Ighalo, Troost-Ekong, 4 others hit Super Eagles camp ahead Ghana cracker

Six Super Eagles players hit the camp on Monday morning ahead of their two-legged FIFA World Cup play-off encounter with arch-rivals, Ghana. 

William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Semi Ajayi, Ola Aina and Frank Onyeka were the first to arrive at the camp of the Super Eagles, according to the team’s media officer, Babafemi Raji.

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Odion Ighalo, coming from hitting a hat trick for his Saudi club Al Hilal club on Friday to sound the Ghanaians a warning, later joined the group to swell the number to six.

Nigeria take on Ghana away on Friday, 25th March, with the reverse leg set for the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday, 29th March from 6pm.

The winner over two legs will earn one of Africa’s five tickets to the 22nd FIFA World Cup finals, scheduled for 14th November – 18th December this year in Qatar.

Bonke for Ndidi

Meanwhile, the team revealed on its Twitter handle Sunday evening that Innocent Bonke will replace the injured Wilfred Ndidi in the squad.

Camp update: Innocent Bonke has been called up as replacement for injured @Ndidi25 for the #WCQ games against #Ghana. Get well quick Wilf. #soarsupereagles #ghanga#ngagha pic.twitter.com/cO1Xxc23BU

— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) March 20, 2022

Bonke plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club, Lorient.

Ndidi picked up a knee injury in Leicester’s Europa Conference League game with Rennes.

Leicester City coach, Brendan Rodgers confirmed Ndidi’s injury in his post-match after the Foxes advanced into the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1.

See the full list of players invited for the two-legged cracker below:

Goalkeepers: Francis Uzoho (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Daniel Akpeyi (Kaizer Chiefs, South Africa); Maduka Okoye (Sparta Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

Defenders: Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion, England); Kenneth Omeruo (CD Leganes, Spain); Leon Balogun (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); William Ekong (Watford FC, England); Olaoluwa Aina (Torino FC, Italy); Calvin Bassey (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Abdullahi Shehu (AC Omonia, Cyprus); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal)

Midfielders: Frank Onyeka (Brentford FC, England); Joseph Ayodele-Aribo (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland); Innocent Bonke (Lorient, France); Oghenekaro Etebo (Watford FC, England); Akinkunmi Amoo (FC Copenhagen, Denmark)

Forwards: Ahmed Musa (Fatih Karagumruk, Turkey); Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal FC, Spain); Victor Osimhen (Napoli FC, Italy); Moses Simon (FC Nantes, France); Sadiq Umar (UD Almeria, Spain); Odion Jude Ighalo (Al-Hilal FC, Saudi Arabia); Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City, England); Emmanuel Dennis (Watford FC, England); Ademola Lookman (Leicester City, England)