Eagles start arriving in camp ahead of Algeria and Argentina games with Kayode invited to replace Ighalo

MEMBERS of the Super Eagles have begun arriving at the team camp in Morocco ahead of this week's planned double header against Algeria and Argentina with head coach Gernot Rohr calling up fresh invitees to replace injured players.

Last week, Mr Rohr named a 24-man squad to prosecute the matches against Algeria and Argentina on November 10 and 14 that included a few new faces including teenage goalkeeping sensation Francis Uzoho. despite qualifying for the World Cup already, the Eagles still have a dead rubber qualifier to play against Algeria's Desert Foxes in Algiers on October 10 and then four days later the team will travel to Russia to face Argentina in a warm-up friendly in the Black Sea city of Krasnodar.

Owing to injury induced withdrawals, Mr Rohr has called up Girona of Spain forward, Kayode Olanrewaju and Turkey-based defender, Kenneth Omeruo to fill the spots left by injuries to Odion Ighalo, Moses Simon and Ogenyi Onazi. Omeruo, who was originally on the standby for the matches against Algeria and Argentina, will now return to the team after been overlooked for previous games.

Kayode on the other hand, was drafted in after the Eagles’ lost two attacker’s to injury and the Girona striker who last featured for the Super Eagles in their 2-0 loss to South Africa in Uyo, will be hoping for a better outing this time around. Yesterday, the camp of officially opened at the Hotel Farah in Rabat, Morocco.

Coach Gernot Rohr and other members of his technical crew Salisu Yusuf, Alloy Agu, Imama Amapakabo, Nabil Trabelsi, Jean Luc Royer, Tunde Adelakun alongside the backroom staff Dayo Enebi Achor, Dr Ibrahim Gyaran, Anaemeka Anozie, Chidi Ngoka, Patrick Pascal and Toyin Ibitoye all arrived yesterday. Four players including Ikechukwu Ezenwa, Ahmed Musa, Wilfred Ndidi and Mikel Agu have also arrived, with the other invitees expected later today.

Mr Rohr will use both matches to try out several new players and fine tune the team for the forthcoming World Cup, so has invited a mixture of old players and several new faces. Most football Nigerian fans will be looking forward to the performances of some of the new faces, including Uzoho, who recently forced his way into the Deportivo La Coruna starting line-up.

Aged just 19, Uzoho became the youngest ever foreign goalkeeper to debut in Spain's La Liga and the second-youngest player to appear in the league behind Real Madrid's Achraf Hakimi, when he made his debut on October 15, starting in a 0–0 away draw against Eibar. Other new players who fans are keen to see include Chidiebere Nwakali and the Anderlecht striker Henry Onyekuru, who recently caught the eye in a Uefa Champions League tie against Paris Saint Germain.

Brian Idowu, a leftback who plays for Amkar Perm in Russia has, however, only been placed on standby for the friendly against Argentina. It is not clear if he will be given the full call up yet or feature in either of the games.