The Super Eagles of Nigeria held their first full training session under the watchful eyes of Eric Chelle on Wednesday following the arrival of Yusuf Alhassan from the US earlier in the day, www.aclsports.com reports.
The team had a session on Tuesday evening with Alhassan absent, but in Wednesday’s session, the midfielder was present as the team continued their preparations for Friday’s important World Cup Qualifier with Rwanda at the Amahoro Stadium in Kigali. It will be recalled that Osimhen was among the early birds in camp ahead of the crucial game against Kigali.
With Wednesday’s intense session, Chelle was able to assess the levels of his players, how he wants them to play in and out of possession, and an understanding of the task at hand. The team will then have their official training session at the Amahoro Stadium on Thursday evening before the game on Friday.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of the encounter, the captain of the side, William Troost-Ekong, said the focus of the team is on the three points at stake.
“We read about that in some places but we are not bothered. I was part of the last game in Kigali which ended scoreless, but we know that we cannot afford a draw this time. Our objective is to pick the three points and bring some life back into our campaign. We are certainly not concerned about history books and what has happened before now. Qualification for the FIFA World Cup is our priority.”
Moroccan referee Jalal Jayed, who turns 38 two days after the match, to take charge of the game that will kick off at 6pm Rwanda time (5pm Nigeria time).
Nigeria are currently placed second from bottom in Group C of the qualifying race and will require maximum points from their next games if they want to stand a chance of qualifying for the World Cup to be staged in North America next year.