Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho has expressed his disappointment in the late arrival of his teammates ahead of Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against South Africa on Friday.
Only 15 players were available in training camp in Uyo as at Tuesday morning with eight more stranded due to inactivity at airports over the national labour strike on Monday.
Five players landed on Tuesday after the strike was called off, bringing the total number in camp to 20 players while the likes of Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi and Maduka Okoye are yet to arrive.
The late arrival has had a significant impact on the player’s preparations for the crunch encounter with Bafana Bafana which Iheanacho is not happy about.
“Obviously we are not yet complete and we are missing a few players, it’s just a little bit of an impact in the training sessions,” Iheanacho told TVC News
“Some of the big sessions that we needed to do we couldn’t because we are not complete.
“It affects the training a little bit but we’ve got almost everybody today and we did a big session which is very, very important.
“Hopefully everyone will be around tomorrow for us to get the full length of the pitch and training that we need.
“Overall, we have been working really hard and training for a few days now so I think the coaches are doing a great job. We are really fit and ready to go.”
Camp Update: 20 players now in camp #SoarSuperEagles #NGARSA #2026WCQ pic.twitter.com/WuA0PBp01Y
— 🇳🇬 Super Eagles (@NGSuperEagles) June 4, 2024
The South Africa game will be Finidi George’s first competitive match as Super Eagles manager.
