Super Eagles’ flight to Qatar 2022 kicks off with Lone Star in Lagos

Nigeria’s quest to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar begins today at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos, where the three-time African champions will face the Liberian Lone Star.

The Super Eagles have only missed one FIFA World Cup finals since their debut in 1994: the 2006 edition in Germany. Because of the CAF’s head-to-head rule, which favors Angola, they were denied that berth.

The Super Eagles have won ten, drawn three, and lost four of their previous 17 meetings with Liberia’s Lone Star. One of the four losses came in Monrovia in July 2000, when a team led by the current President of Liberia (George Ousmanou Oppong Weah) went up 2-0 before losing on Sunday. In a 1-2 loss for Nigeria in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying match, Oliseh pulled one back.

The Eagles had to fight hard to snare the ticket with wins in their last three matches, including away to Sudan and at home to Liberia and Ghana.

The Eagles, on the other hand, rallied to a 2-2 draw in Monrovia and stung the Lone Star 6-1 in the second leg in Calabar in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match.

With a win on Friday, the Eagles will go to the top of the group, after group mates Cape Verde and Central African Republic drew 1-1 in their Day 1 match in Douala, Cameroon on Wednesday. The Central African Republic plays their home games in Cameroon because none of their home venues have been certified worthy of hosting international matches by the CAF.

CAF has allowed only 5,000 spectators at the Teslim Balogun Stadium for the match due to the global coronavirus pandemic and preventive measures, protocols, and guidelines.

Coach Gernot Rohr invited 30 players for the two games against Liberia and Cape Verde, and 29 of them trained in Lagos for the two games (defender Kevin Akpoguma was ruled out due to illness).

Meanwhile, the Confederation of African Football has agreed to the Nigeria Football Federation’s request that the players wear black armbands during the match in memory of Nigeria legend Thompson Usiyen, who died on Tuesday in the state of California, USA. Usiyen died of colon cancer in the late 1970s, when he was a goal-a-game forward for the Eagles.

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In addition, the gesture pays tribute to Brigadier-General Dominic Obukadata Oneya, the former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association, who died in early August.

The players from the United Kingdom will return to base after Friday’s match, with the rest of the team flying to Mindelo on Sunday night for a Day 2 match against the Blue Sharks of Cape Verde on Tuesday.