Eagles to Play Cameroon Champions Cotonsport in Warm-up Friday

Duro Ikhazuagbe

Super Eagles who departed Abuja by chartered flight last night for Garoua, will play 15-time Cameroon champions, Cotonsport, on Friday, in the only warm-up lined up for the team before filling out against Pharaohs of Egypt in an AFCON 2021 Group D blockbuster showdown on Tuesday.

Although details of the match scheduled for 4pm remained sketchy, dependable sources at the Sunday Dankaro House in Abuja told THISDAY that the test game will be played behind closed doors at the practice pitch of Stade de Roumde in Garoua.

“As you are aware, most of the top friendlies are being cancelled due to the growing concern over Omicron variant of the Covid pandemic. We just need a quality opponent to help our boys check their readiness to play Egypt next Tuesday,” revealed the top football chief.

Meanwhile, Belgian club Genk striker on loan at Dutch giants, Feyenoord, Cyriel Dessers, has been contacted by the Super Eagles as possible last-minute replacement for Odion Ighalo.

Ighalo’s Saudi club, Al Shabab, have insisted the striker will be breaching his contract should he feature at the AFCON. The former Watford and Manchester United striker is believed to have included in his contract that he has retired from international duty with Nigerian.

A top football source hinted last night that there was nothing the NFF could do to force Al Shabab to release their prized goal king who is leading the campaign for the club to win the Saudi topflight league for the first time.

Dessers who was initially ignored in Eagles final 28-man list has taken the Dutch football by storm this season.

He was joint top scorer in the Dutch league two seasons ago with Heracles.

Dessers made his Eagles debut in October 2020 against Tunisia in a friendly played in Austria, but was overlooked by Eagles’ former German gaffer, Gernot Rohr.