Taiwo Adelu
With the second phase of camping ending this Friday in Pretoria, South Africa, Chief Coach of Nigeria’s Super Eagle Team B, Sunday Oliseh has declared that his team are battle ready for the Rwanda 2016 African Nations Championship (CHAN) which kicks off this weekend.
The Home-Eagles played their second preparatory friendly match against Ivory Coast on Monday with a 1-0 victory over the Elephants. They had last week played a 1-1 draw against the Angolan team.
The team began their preparation for the CHAN 21 December, 2015 in Abuja before moving down to Pretoria because the South African city has the same high altitude with the one they will experience in Rwanda.
Speaking on the readiness of Nigeria for the competition designed by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) for the players playing in the domestic leagues on the continent, Coach Oliseh disclosed that with what he saw in the boys, he has the confidence that Nigeria will be the team to be in Rwanda. He expressed satisfaction with the improvement of the players.
“The preparation is okay and the spirit in camp is high with the players anxiously waiting for the kick off of the competition. What I can say now is that we are on track and the boys are rearing to go,” Oliseh said.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Chief Coach, Tijani Babangida has dropped a hint that Oliseh planned to use the friendly against the Elephants to draw up the list of his starting eleven when the CHAN kicks off in Rwanda.
Nigeria are expected to hit Rwanda on 15 January three days to their opening game against Niger Republic at the Stade Regional Nyamirambo, Kigali in Rwanda.
The 22 players and the coaches will depart from Pretoria, South Africa to the tournament venue on Friday, where it is expected that Lobi Stars player Samson Gbadebo will join the team once his ltraveling papers are sorted.