The Super Eagles of Nigeria arrived Bloemfontein, venue of their semi-final clash against the Black Stars of Ghana on Sunday night to the warm embrace of Nigerians and residents of the city. First to call for enquiries about the team’s welfare was National Women’s teams coordinator, Aisha Falode, who is here on CAF assignment.
The Nigerian team was split into two on the trip to Bloemfontein, with the first team made up of officials, arriving the city by 7pm, while the other half of players and coaches came into town at about 9:30pm.
The team is quartered at the President Hotel and Conference Centre, alongside the Zimbabwean national team who will be playing the first semi-final at the Free State Stadium against their Libyan opponents also on Wednesday. Residents of the city are already predicting a Nigeria-Zimbabwe final, as they think Southern Africa’s only pride remaining in the tournament are the Robert Mugabe boys.
The team will resume training on Monday evening in the city, while it is expected that it will be given a chance to feel the stadium for the game on Tuesday evening. There are lots of Nigerians here in Bloemfontein, because of its proximity to Johannesburg and other factors. “We don’t expect to lack support here because of the huge population of Nigerians and the fact that the Supporters Club is on ground”, declared team administrator, Dayo Enebi AChor.
Returnee full back, Solomon Kwambe was full of smiles when asked about his return to the first team for the game against Ghana after seeing out his one match ban following two bookings against Bafana Bafana. “I thank my mates for keeping us in the tournament in my absence and I promise that if I am picked for the semi-final game I will make up for my absence in the previous game”.
