- Salisu Yusuf vows to qualify Nigeria
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has fixed July 16, for the resumption of camping for all player invited for next month’s African Nations Championship qualifier.
Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf, on Monday released a 30-man squad for the clash against Benin Republic or Togo and it has been approved.
Paul Bassey, a member of the NFF committee, who doubles as Akwa United chairman, assured necessary moves would be made for the quick release of players.
“By the coach’s programme which we have approved, the players will report to Kaduna on July 16,” Bassey told the media on Tuesday.
“We have told them to write officially to the clubs, pleading with them to be patriotic by releasing their players on July 16 because training starts on July 17.
“We [technical committee] will liaise and interface with the LMC on how we can work with the league fixtures. We have to work with him to make sure those players are released.
“If out of how many players that have been chosen, you should run to the national camp. It is the price we have to pay as clubs and we don’t have a choice.
“No team has more than four players on the list, so we have to sacrifice. We will release them on Sunday and get them back on Friday [July 21].”
Meanwhile, Super Eagles coach, Salisu Yusuf, has promised to qualify the team for next year’s African Nations Championship (CHAN) billed for Kenya.
Yusuf, who released his 30-man list on Monday, said that only the best will be picked for the qualifier against Togo or Benin Republic next month.
“We have started preparation already with the release of players and they will resume next week [July 16],” Yusuf told media on Tuesday.
“We still have good players out there that are not even on the 30-man list. In my scouting report, I have 45-50 players – in each position we have at least six players.
“But we have a limitation by taking 30 first and maybe, later on, we can substitute if there is a player not playing up to our level and bring in other players who can do better.
“The league is so rich and we have a lot of good players. I’m not worried because the players are in the league and are playing regularly. But we hope there will no be mid-week matches before the match.