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The Confederation of African Football has confirmed that Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is eligible to play against DR Congo today, Soccernet.ng reports.
Ndidi got yellow-carded for a 6th-minute foul on Denis Bouanga in Nigeria’s 4-1 victory over Gabon on Thursday.
At the time, it was believed that the Besiktas man would have to serve an automatic one-game suspension, as he also got a yellow card in Nigeria’s World Cup Qualifier against Rwanda in March.
Recall that according to FIFA’s rules, any player who gets two yellow cards would get an automatic one-game ban. Case in point, Teboho Mokoena’s situation that cost South Africa in the qualifiers.
However, it has now been confirmed that Ndidi is eligible and will be available to face DR Congo in the final of the CAF World Cup playoffs on Sunday.
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According to the update issued by the official Super Eagles page on X, Ndidi is still eligible to play on Sunday because the first yellow card he got was during the World Cup qualifiers group stage.
As such, it cannot be carried over to the World Cup playoffs.
His case is entirely different from Teboho Mokoena’s situation with South Africa. The Bafana Bafana player’s yellow cards came in the World Cup Qualifiers, and that was what rendered him ineligible to play.
Against Gabon, Wilfred Ndidi had one of his best games in a Nigerian jersey. He was almost flawless in that game. His passing was good, hardly put a foot wrong, and even earned an assist.
If he replicates that performance against DR Congo today, it will give Nigeria the upper hand in midfield, which will likely spur them to victory.
