Stoke City of England midfielder, Oghenekaro Etebo, made a late minute withdrawal from the Super Eagles’ team yesterday ahead of the international friendly match against Brazil in Singapore.
His withdrawal and that of Ola Aina, who had a ‘domestic accident,’ has reduced the initial 23 players to 21.
Their withdrawal notwithstanding, officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), say it would not hamper the team in Sunday’s match against Brazil.
The match is generating interest, not only among Nigerian football fans but across the globe, as it is coming 23 years after the famous victory for Nigeria at Atlanta ’96 Olympics Games.
Coach Gernot Rohr has opted not to replace the two late withdrawals.
The Franco-German already replaced defender Kenneth Omeruo with Tyronne Ebuehi, while Efosa Solomon-Otabor joined the camp following France–based Samuel Kalu’s unavailability.
No reasons were offered for the stepping aside of Etebo.
The remaining 21 players trained yesterday morning and two training will follow today.
“The official training session will take place on Saturday, with the match scheduled to kick off at 1 pm Nigeria time on Sunday”, the NFF stated.
Solomon-Otabor and forward Peter Olayinka are coming into the Nigeria senior camp for the first time ever, while Ebuehi returns for the first time since the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Former junior international midfielder Ramon Azeez also makes a return, and defenders Abdullahi Shehu and Chidozie Awaziem, as well as midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, is back after missing the 2-2 draw with Ukraine in Dnipro last month.