Three new players were handed a first time call up to the senior national team of Nigeria for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
We exclusively revealed last week that three new players made the final 28 man list, and yesterday the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) made the list public with Ebenezer Akinsamiro, Tochukwu Nnadi and Salim Lawal Fago the new players in the team.
A team source revealed that the trio were picked for various reasons by head coach Eric Chelle, but one thing they all share in common is that they are seen as players who can be a part of the team in the nearest future.
Akinsamiro for instance is highly rated by Chelle and could be a shock name in starting lineup with Chelle heavily impressed with his performances in the Serie A for Pisa.
Nnadi who was a member of the Nigeria U20 team at the world cup two years ago is seen by Chelle as someone, who can be the long term replacement for Wilfred Ndidi in the middle. He has also shown his box to box ability while on show for his team Zulte Waregem in Belgium.
Fago’s case is entirely different because the coach already had Terem Moffi in as a player who has a different profile to the forwards in the team but after the recent attack by fans of his club, Chelle thought it wise to leave him out.
That was how Fago who is very similar to Moffi in terms of playing style as they are both, quick, strong and also willing runners was picked. In his case it was more like having a different profile to the players already in the team.
