Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) have confirmed that the under-23 national team, Naija Eagles will play against Mexico on July 2, as part of their build-up to this year’s Olympic Games in August.
NFF’s FIFA Match Agent Jairo Pachon of Eurodata Sport stated on Tuesday that the match will be played at Aguascalientes Stadium, home ground of newly promoted top-tier club, Necaxa
After the match, which is scheduled to start at 8.30pm Mexico time, Naija Eagles will continue their pre-Olympics training camp in the United States of America and will play Charleston Battery FC in Atlanta on 16th July.
A game against the Honduras U23 team is also being consummated for 27th July ahead of Rio 2016, where Nigeria will play Sweden, Colombia and Japan in the group stage of the men’s football tournament of this year’s Games in Brazil.
Meanwhile, Norway-based central defender, William Troost-Ekong has now emerged as the front runner to replace injured Segun Oduduwa on the Nigeria squad, though permutations have also gone out in favour of either Kenneth Omeruo or Godfrey Oboabona.
All there are established regulars in the senior squad, Super Eagles, for which 21-year-old Troost-Ekong made his debut in the ill-fated 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers but is yet to feature in a major tournament for the Nigerian squad.
Central defence has been a major source of concern for Naija Eagles’ coach, Samson Yebowei Siasia, particularly following the absence of injured Oduduwa.
As a result, Siasia had also looked in the direction of Celtic of Scotland ace, Efe Ambrose, but while Omeruo initially opted out on medical grounds, there has been a last-ditch effort for him to rescind his decision.
However, AfricanFootball.com now understands that Siasia will instead include Troost-Ekong, who rated high in recent friendlies against Mali and Luxembourg, yet still falls into the age category for the Olympics.
“William Troost-Ekong is the most likely choice to be included now because he is a central defender and falls within the age category,” a top source informed.