Ndidi leads Super Eagles in friendly match against Poland

Super Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi has joined the squad in Warsaw for Wednesday’s friendly match against Poland, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Ndidi, along with stars like Moses Simon and Akor Adams, was named in the squad for the June window. However, they missed the chance to play as the new coach Eric Chelle led the team to win the Unity Cup in London at The Valley, Charlton Athletic stadium.

The team reached the Polish capital on Monday and had their first training session in light rain at Stadion Polonii Warsaw. They are preparing for their match at the PGE Narodowy Stadium on Wednesday.

According to the team’s media officer, Promise Efoghe, 18 players arrived in Poland, but only 16 participated in the training session.

The players in camp include goalkeepers Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho, and Arthur Okonkwo. Ndidi, Simon, and Adams are joined by Paul Onuachu, Terem Moffi, who was captain in London, Tochukwu Nnadi, Emmanuel Fernandez, Semi Ajayi, Rafiu Durosinmi, Zaidu Sanusi, Igho Ogbu, Raphael Onyedika, Frank Onyeka, Bruno Onyemaechi, and Abdullahi Ibrahim from Banik Ostrava.

After the match against Poland on Wednesday, the Super Eagles will head to Portugal. They will face the Selecao in their last World Cup warm-up game for this international window.

Chelle, who recently guided the Eagles to keep the Unity Cup title in London, is looking forward to the game on Wednesday. He said, “There is a culture of winning that we are trying to build in this team, and that mentality is important. You can say that it is difficult to have games at this time because the players have been in holiday mood for about two weeks, but the job must be done.”

He added, “We have 18 players in camp now, and we will work with that. Everybody must work hard and we will go into the match with the determination to win.”

Before the friendlies, Chelle expressed concern about missing 2023 and 2024 African Players of the Year, Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman. The Franco-Malian coach will also be without midfielder Alhassan Yusuf and Samuel Chukwueze, who recently laid his mother to rest in Imo State.