Super Eagles coaches are thrilled with the return of the hitherto injured Ademola Lookman, who has reportedly started training with Atalanta before their Champions League play-off against Club Brugge of Belgium, tomorrow.
Lookman has emerged as one of the Super Eagles’ top stars. The Team is chasing a return to the World Cup after missing the 2022 edition in Qatar.
Nigeria needs to win all its remaining games and hopes that other Group C results go in its favour in a World Cup group dominated by Rwanda, South Africa, and the Benin Republic with seven points each. Nigeria has three points, while Zimbabwe is sixth with only one point.
To ensure that the team meets the expectations, Coach Eric Chelle has been in Europe liaising with the players on the importance of everybody involved in the chase pulling his weight in the campaign.
The coach, according to a Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) official, is particularly thrilled by the news of Lookman’s return. The source, who pleaded anonymity, said that the coaches are monitoring the situation with other players, especially goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, who reportedly has been charged by Italian football authorities of complicity in an irregular betting pattern during a Serie A game.
Lookman’s return also comes timely for his club, Atalanta, who are away to Belgium’s Club Brugge in the first leg of the Champions League knockout stage playoff.
The club confirmed that the versatile attacker has returned to light training on the grass as he steps up his recovery from a knee injury that he suffered last month.
Apart from Europe-based stars, Chelle and his crew is said to be monitoring some home-based players with a view to including them in the squad for next month’s games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
The NFF official said that Chelle’s brief stay with the home-based Eagles in Ikenne, last month allowed him to assess the players, some of whom “impressed him immensely.”
The NFF is expected to release the names of players chosen by the coaches for the games later in the month.
Nigeria will meet Rwanda in Kigali on March 21 before hosting Zimbabwe in Uyo on March 25.
