Odion Ighalo who scored Nigeria’s first goal in their 4-0 thrashing of Cameroon on Friday is in a race to be fit for today’s reverse fixture in Yaounde due to a suspected hamstring issue.
Ighalo who limped out of the game against Cameroon trained with the rest of his squad yesterday, but according to coach Gernot Rohr, a decision on his availability for today’s game will be made later today.
The coach who said he would have loved to field same line up like the one that defeated Cameroon on Friday was quick to point out the possibilities of playing new players due to doubts surrounding the fitness of some players after Friday’s game.
“We know that to take revenge (for Cameroon) is normal and natural because they play at home and have their families and they got a slap on Friday. We expect Cameroon to start well and we know they are a physical team but we are ready physically also to have a big fight him.”
“I would like to use the same lineup (for Friday’s match) on Monday but there is a little problem with Ighalo – with his leg. We don’t want to take any risks and there is also a possibility of bringing in fresh players. That is why we will only decide on Monday morning.” Rohr said after yesterday’s close door training session.
“If he (Ighalo) cannot play, we will decide in the last moment , at the moment we have two possibilities. We have Kelechi (Iheanacho) and we have Anthony (Nwakaeme) so we have two centre forwards who are ready to play for him.”
Patrick Joel
