The stage is almost set for the much anticipated pre-World Cup friendly between Poland and Nigeria at Wroclaw, Poland as the match is barely some hours from now.
Both Poland and Nigeria will be playing at the Russia 2018 World Cup has emphasized how important today’s fixture is.
Who will play?
The Super Eagles will be without influential captain John Obi Mikel who is sorting out his work permit in China, as well as Oghenekaro Etebo and Tyrone Ebuehi who are out injured and the duo of Gabriel Okechukwu and Junior Ajayi who couldn’t join the team in Poland due to Visa issues.
Mikel’s absence means Joel Obi or John Ogu would likely start in the middle of the park with Wilfred Ndidi
The Polish team, however, will be without Dortmund flamboyant wing back Lukasz Piszeck who is expecting a newborn baby with his wife as well as the defensive duo of Bartosz Bereszynski and Slawomir Peszko who are ruled out of the game due to injury.
What the Coach said:
Reacting to Mikel’s absence, the German tactician, Gernot Rohr said – ‘The only game we lost when the captain was not here was against South Africa in June, I hope that this time will be better.
‘But we need a leader and John Obi Mikel is our uncontested leader but it’ll be interesting to see how the other players can do without him.
‘Unfortunately, he had this problem with his work permit in China which means he can go out but not come back and it was a problem.
‘We’ve been playing like a team and we have other players who can take responsibility. We have a second captain, a third and a fourth captain, so, I think the team will be able to give a good answer and also play the game as we want.’
Rohr hopes the new players that will come into the team will live up to the billing.
Super Eagles possible starting eleven
Francis Uzoho
Shehu Abdullahi, Williams Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Brian Idowu
Joel Obi, Wilfred Ndidi, John Ogu
Victor Moses, Alex Iwobi, Odion Ighalo.
Prediction:
Poland 2-3 Nigeria
