Follow Us on Google
• Kicks-off 5:00 pm
Nigeria’s Super Eagles and
Saudi Arabia’s Green Falcons
will be at each other’s jugular
on Friday evening in a friend-
ly encounter in the Portugese
city of Portimao that promises
so much. Nigeria are three-
time champions of Africa just
as Saudi Arabia are three-time
champions of Asia.
Both countries have met
only once previously, also in
a friendly match, also in Eu-
rope. That scoreless encoun-
ter in Wattens, Austria on 25th
May 2010 was as part of the
Super Eagles’ final prepara-
tions for the 2010 FIFA World
Cup finals in South Africa.
The Saudis did not qualify for
that tournament.
As both teams lined up at
the Alpenstadion that eve-
ning, 13 years ago, the Super
Eagles were rated 21st in the
world while the Green Fal-
cons were 66th. Today, the
Eagles are 40th in the world
while the Falcons are 57th.
Incidentally, Saudi Arabia’s
best-ever ranking was at 21st
in July 2004. The Eagles were
ranked 5th in the world in
April 1994, just after winning
the Africa Cup of Nations in
Tunisia.
For Friday’s encounter,
Head Coach Jose Peseiro,
who coached Saudi Arabia
that evening in Austria 13
years ago but is now in charge
of Nigeria, will have exciting
talents Bright Osayi-Samuel,
Jordan Torunarigha, Calvin
Bassey, Bruno Onyemaechi, Raphael Onyedika, Fisayo
Dele-Bashiru, Terem Moffi,
Victor Boniface, Samuel
Chukwueze, Sadiq Umar
and of course FIFA Ballon
d’Or Dozen-Shortlist mem-
ber, Victor Osimhen, at his
disposal.
There are also experienced
defenders Kenneth Omeruo
(who was in the 2013 AF- CON-winning squad and is
happy to echo ‘Let’s Do It
Again’), Semi Ajayi and Chi- dozie Awaziem, midfielders
Wilfred Ndidi, Frank On- yeka, Joseph Ayodele-Aribo
and Alex Iwobi, and forwards
Moses Simon and Kelechi
Iheanacho.
While Peseiro will surely
miss in-form Nottingham
Forest of England forward
Taiwo Awoniyi, who is side- lined by injury, there is the
opportunity to either start Vic- tor Boniface or see what rave- making France-based Terem
Moffi can truly offer. Moffi
was in Peseiro’s first roll-of-
the-dice with the Eagles in
the friendlies against Mexico
and Ecuador in the USA last
year’s summer, and scored as
the Eagles marched on Sao
Tome and Principe to set a re- cord international scoreline in
an AFCON 2023 qualifying
match in Agadir, Morocco
some days later.
