Niger’ll Be Tough For Eagles —Utaka

Returnee Super Eagles striker, John Utaka has said that the home-based Eagles will not find an easy prey in the Mena of Niger, when both teams clash in a friendly match on 15 August in Niamey, Niger.

The Montpellier of France striker posited that there are no longer minnows in football, hence the need for the Coach Stephen Keshi-led squad not to underrate their opponents.

“Niger is also a good side and they will want to prove a point against Nigeria, that’s why I’m warning the Nigerian team not to look down on their hosts”.

He charged the players not to see themselves as being superior to the Nigeriens, saying “The outcome of the friendly match will go a long way in determining our standing on the monthly FIFA/Coca-Cola ranking.”

Meanwhile, Keshi is unhappy with the current state of the training pitch of the Abuja National Stadium.

The Eagles trained on the pitch on Monday evening with the Nigerian trainer stating that the pitch had degenerated in quality.

Subsequently, the team will now hold their training sessions at the FIFA Goal Project.

The FIFA Goal Project has an artificial turf but the friendly against Niger will be played on natural grass.

Twenty two players trained on Monday evening with only absentees being four members of the Sunshine Stars’ team that beat ASO Chlef 2-0 in the CAF Champions League on Sunday.

However, Keshi has warned the players against displaying any form of inferiority complex as they have equal opportunity to nick shirts like the players who are based abroad for the 8 September Nations Cup qualifier against Liberia.

“Just show me what you can do on the pitch and leave the rest for us to do when time for selection of players for the games come,” Keshi said.