9th January, 2013
The Super Eagles of Nigeria will later today trade tackles with African Cup of Nations debutants, Cape Verde, in a friendly match at the St Louis Stadium in Faro, Portugal by 8.55pm Nigerian Time. .
Wednesday’s game is one of the warm up matches scheduled for the Coach Stephen Keshi-led Eagles to test their might ahead of the Nations Cup, which holds from 19 January through 10 February in South Africa.
Coaches of both teams are expected to feature their full teams for the match, as the encounter coincides with the deadline giving to all the participating teams by CAF to submit their 23-man final squad for the African championship.
Skipper Joseph Yobo will lead the Eagles squad with Chelsea of England’s John Mikel Obi and number one goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama expected to be on duty, while Cape Verde will parade Ryan Mendes.
The Nigerian side, that will take on Cape Verde, are expected to be highly charged going by the 1-1 draw they played in the last friendly match against a star-studded Catalonia team last Wednesday.
Also, coach Keshi is expected to line up a team that comprise both home-based and foreign-based professionals, as against a team dominated by local players that he fielded against Catalonia.
However, pundits are of the opinion that the match is not going to be a ride in the park for the Super Eagles, going by the antecedents of Cape Verde, who stopped the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon from qualifying for this year’s Nations Cup. The team are ranked 69th in the world.
Keshi will make his final list of 23 players public after the encounter in Faro.
—Bamidele Olowosagba