Warri Wolves skipper Azubike
Egwuekwe has said Nigeria ‘B’
team will not be intimidated by the
pedigree of star-studded Ivory
Coast when both teams clash in a
friendly in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
AFCON-bound Ivory Coast are
expected to line up their top stars
like four-time African Player of the
Year Yaya Toure, Wilfried Bony,
Salomon Kalou and Chieck Tiote
against a Nigerian team drawn from
the domestic league with only
Switzerland-based midfielder
Steve Ukoh from overseas.
Egwuekwe said he and some of his
teammates have come up against
the likes of Lionel Messi, Mario
Baloteli and Xavi Iniesta and so
does not expect them to suffer
inferiority complex on Sunday
against the Elephants top stars.
“This is the time for the home-
based players to show that they can
do it,” the towering central
defender said.
“For me, I am never scared in any
game. It is 11 players each on the
pitch. I have played against top
players like Iniesta, Fernando
Torres and people told me I did
well. So who is Wilfried Bony? We
will match them man for man.”
Nigeria assistant coach Daniel
Amokachi will be in charge of the
team in the absence of holidaying
Stephen Keshi.
Amokachi dropped one of the
leading scorers in the league last
season Ighodalo Osaguona from his
squad, insisting he picked players
based on current form.
Nigeria defeated the Ivorians 2-1 in
their last clash at full international
level in a 2013 AFCON quarter-final
match in South Africa, while the
Eagles ‘B’ side eliminated their
Ivorian counterparts to qualify for a
first-ever 2014 CHAN, also in South
Africa.
The Eagles are also due to face
Sudan in Dubai on January 17 and
Egwuekwe described the
encounter as a grudge match as
Sudan defeated Nigeria in
Khartoum to deny the Eagles from
defending the Nations Cup title in
Equatorial Guinea this month.
“We want to beat Sudan because
they were part of the reasons we
are not at the 2015 AFCON. We want
to tell them that what the
professionals can do, we in the
home-based can also do,” he
added.
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
