Nigeria’s Sand Eagles prepare for Ghana beach soccer qualifiers
Nigeria’s beach soccer team has assembled all 20 invited players in Kaduna ahead of a two-leg qualifying tie against Ghana for the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations. Nigeria will host the first match on October 10 before travelling to Accra on October 17, with the winner reaching the finals in Senegal.
Nigeria’s Beach Soccer National Team, the Sand Eagles, has entered the next phase of preparations for its CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations qualifying tie against Ghana’s Black Sharks. All 20 invited players are in camp at the Murtala Muhammed Square Sports Complex in Kaduna, where the team has spent the past week working on tactical and technical drills. Christopher Kadiri has supervised the training in the absence of Head Coach Abdullahi Isa.
Isa is with the Under-17 national team, the Golden Eaglets, which is preparing for next month’s WAFU-B Under-17 Championship in Ouagadougou. Nigeria will host Ghana in Kaduna on Saturday, October 10. The second leg is scheduled for Accra on Saturday, October 17.
The winner of the two-match tie will qualify for the CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations finals in Senegal, scheduled for November 7 to 15. Nigeria returned to international beach soccer competition two years ago after an extended absence. Its campaign that year ended against Mauritania on the away-goal rule in qualifying for the tournament hosted by Seychelles.
The Nigeria Football Federation has also approached the Senegalese Football Federation about arranging friendly matches for the Sand Eagles against the reigning African champions before the Ghana tie. The squad includes goalkeepers Godwin Tale, Nuhu Noma Aiki and Olalekan Oladipo. The defenders are Victor Tale, Taiwo Adams, Emmanuel Ohwoferia, Clement Eganosi, Effiong Eyo and Chinweze Gabriel.
The forwards include Dozie Frank, Stanley Ekwe, Tanko Emmanuel, Ekene Obi, Hassan Abubakar, Sadiq Umar, Kazeem Oyewunmi, Hassan Abdullahi, Godspower Igudia, Hamza Bagudu and Hamza Isa.
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