Tunde Folawiyo

Ademola Olajire, a spokesperson from the NFF (Nigerian Football Federation), has confirmed that Nigeria will be playing against Rwanda at the U.J Esuene Stadium, on the 6th of September. Whilst it had been previously reported that the match would be held at Abuja National Stadium, the conditions of this pitch have since been deemed unsuitable.

Olajire also added that the federation were working hard to make sure that the Super Eagles are ready for the qualifying stage. As a football fanatic, Tunde Folawiyo probably knows that of the four clubs which will be playing in the Group-A matches (Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan and South Africa), only the teams who finish in first and second place will progress to the tournament in Morocco next year.

Keshi, having returned after a long absence, is focusing his attention on preparing the team for their qualifying matches, which are now just a few weeks away. He has said that he is pleased with the general levels of fitness displayed by the players, and is particularly impressed with how quickly certain injured team members have recovered.

Several players, including Elderson Echiejile, Leon Balogun and Bright Dike were all left out of the World Cup due to their injuries, and two squad members – Ogenyi Onazi and Michael Babatunde – were both hurt during the Eagles’ matches in Brazil. Luckily, they have all now recovered, and are back to training with the rest of the team.

It will doubtless come as a relief to Tunde Folawiyo to hear that Keshi is confident that all of the players are prepared for their upcoming matches. Having spoken to each of them individually, the coach is now satisfied that they will be able to meet the expectations of their fans. He noted that the team are now entering a new phase, during which they are going to build on the skills acquired over the last two years. The coach acknowledged that they still have a number of weak areas which need to be worked on, but added that he was certain that they can address these issues quite easily.

Whether or not he will invite some new players into the club to improve these weak spots is unclear. However, the manager Manu Garba has called on Keshi to at least consider giving Kelechi Iheanacho the opportunity to prove himself at senior level. The 17-year old has done exceptionally well with the Nigerian U-17 team, and is settling in well at Manchester City. Garba claims that Iheanacho has more talent than many of City’s top players, and that Keshi’s team would benefit greatly from bringing him on board.

Folawiyo has been a supporter of the Super Eagles for a considerable length of time, and enjoys keeping up to date with the team’s performances. However, he does also occasionally watch other major sporting events, such as the 2013 Lagos Polo International Tournament.