Breaking News
Flight Hitches Delay Ndidi, Tanimu, Ogunmodede in Lagos
Benin's #12 David Kiki fights for the ball with Nigeria's #4 Wilfred Ndidi during the FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers group C football match between Benin and Nigeria at the Felix Houphouet-Boigny stadium in Abidjan on June 10, 2024. (Photo by Issouf SANOGO / AFP) (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images)
*Libyan team in disarray ahead of double header clashes with Super Eagles
Super Eagles call-ups Wilfred Ndidi and Benjamin Tanimu failed to hit the team’s training camp in Uyo yesterday after their local flight out of Lagos was cancelled at the last minute.
It was also learnt that Super Eagles Assistant Coach, Daniel Ogunmodede, was also affected by this cancellation.
According to Scorenigeria.come.ng, the Ibom Air flight was originally scheduled to take off by 3pm before it was delayed severally and eventually cancelled.
The airline later announced that the new departure of this flight to Uyo is now 6.30am this Tuesday morning.
The Super Eagles camp opened yesterday in Uyo ahead of the double header 2025 AFCON qualifier against Libya’s Mediterranean Knights this Friday in the Akwa Ibom State capital and the reverse fixture away on Tuesday October 15 in the former Muammar Gaddafi-led country.
Meanwhile, with barely three days to the back-to-back AFCON 2025 qualifiers
internal strife has crept into the camp of Libya as the new coach brought in at the last minute is finding it difficult to raise a formidable team for the two rounds of matches.
A Libyan publication, Libya News 24noted yesterday that part of the headache of the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Nasser Al-Hadhiri, is that some of the invited players have refused to honour the call, making things difficult for the coach to put up a good squad for match-day three and four fixtures against Nigeria.
The situation has led to big pressure from the fans on the coach. Libya are at the bottom of the standings after losing their first two matches.
Coach Al-Hadhiri confirmed that three players from Al-Ahly Tripoli refused call-up to the national team. They include; Hamdou El-Houni, Sand Al-Warfali, and Mohamed Al-Munir.
Their absence has increased the pressure on the coach who is trying to manage the crisis of the boycotting players, the injured ones amid widespread public criticism.
The coach also pointed out that the team suffers from a significant lack of physical preparation, explaining: “We have not yet reached the required readiness to face a strong opponent the size of Nigeria.”
The team suffered from the absence of several players in the first training sessions, which led to difficulty in imposing a comprehensive tactical vision for the Nigerian match.
