After a pulsating 2-2 draw with the Tartan Army of Scotland last Wednesday in London, the Super Eagles have quickly taken the next step towards it World Cup preparation by arriving in the United States city of Philadelphia for its next round of friendly against another World Cup bound squad, Greece.
In a carefully scripted World Cup plan by the Nigeria Football Federation, the Super Eagles left London on Thursday at exactly 12:40 via a British Airways plane and after seven hours of flight landed in Philadelphia at about 3:20pm local time, about 8:20 pm Nigerian time.
All the 30 invited players are on the trip as the battle for shirts for the World Cup takes a final bend, with Head Coach Stephen Keshi expected to name the final 23 man list in the next 48 hours. The players have been very businesslike in their mood trying to impress the coach in the eleventh hour. Keshi too seem to want a level playing field as he has scheduled twice a day training for all the players to prove themselves.
The first of the training session will take place by 8am on Friday in Philadelphia, while the second will take place at4:30pm same day. This training regime is expected to be sustained ahead of the naming of the 23-man list for the Mundial in Brazil. The team is putting up at the Westin Hotel and Resort in the centre of Philadelphia, an exotic hotel described as serene and a delight by team psychologist, Dr Robinson Okosun.
Meanwhile, German based defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun says he has been following the progress of the team in London and wishes the team the best during the Brazil 2014. Balogun, who puts his fitness level at about 70 per cent, said with the caliber of players he has interacted with in the team, the Eagles will go far in Brazil with luck on the side. “We’ve got great and classy players that can match any country in the World Cup, we just pray that we should be lucky when the competition starts”.
