Nigeria’s Super Eagles B, the locally based version of the men’s senior national team bore the consequences of shuffling players between club and national assignments as two key members of the team suffered injury worries on club duties on Sunday.
Since the inception of the team’s camping for this weekend’s qualifier against Benin Republic on July 25 in Kano, players have always been released to feature in league games for their respective teams but things turned sour at the weekend.
Abia Warriors striker Sunday Adetunji was the worst hit as he landed on his arm while heading home his second goal in Warriors’ impressive 4-2 win at Lobi Stars.
The former El-Kanemi Warriors striker is one of just three out-and-out strikers in the team’s camp and having netted 14 times this season, he was expected to be a key part of the CHAN Eagles project.
Dr Enyinnaya Anozie, the head of Abia Warriors medical unit, who joined his colleagues at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (where Adetunji was rushed to) to attend to the lanky striker told www.abiawarriorsfc.com that the striker was in a stable condition after receiving treatment.
Anozie however expressed fears that Warriors number 9 may take a few weeks out due to the severity of the left arm fracture.
It was not better news for Coach Salisu Yusuf as league topscorer Stephen Odey had an injury scare in MFM’s 0-0 draw against Enyimba in Lagos.
Odey was stretchered off in the 73rd minute of Sunday’s draw after he landed awkwardly on his ankle in an aerial challenge (click to see our tweet on this).
Although the teenage striker returned to the pitch shortly afterwards, the scorer of 18 league goals so far this season was substituted five minutes later for Nojeem Akinyemi.
All players are expected to reconvene in Kano today for the final days of preparation with two more players expected tomorrow – the duo of Emeka Atuloma and Nasiru Sani of Rivers United and Katsina United respectively whose sides face today in a crunchy relegation battle in Port Harcourt.
Nigeria travel to Cotonou to face Benin Republic in the first leg of their qualifiers scheduled for the Stade de l’Amitie on Sunday with the return leg in Kano six days later.
