AFCON 2023: Iheanacho Fit To Play for super Eagles– Peseiro
Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro has revealed that Kelechi Iheanacho is now ready to join the rest of Super Eagles squad for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Iheanacho has just completed treatment at Sky Bet Championship club Leicester following a muscular injury.
“Kelechi will arrive Cote d’Ivoire. He has finished the treatment at Leicester City,” Peseiro told NFF media.
The AFCON tournament is scheduled to hold from January 13 to February 11.
The 26-year-old forward will be making his second AFCON appearance at the tournament.
The Eagles will arrive in Lagos aboard a chartered aircraft and will be hosted to a send forth dinner by the Lagos State Government tonight, hours before they depart for Ivory Coast to participate in the 34th Africa Cup of Nations finals starting on Saturday.
Meanwhile, with the uncertainty surrounding the fitness of Victor Boniface, coach Jose Peseiro will now have to take some tough decisions in the coming days.
Boniface groin injury has caused panic in the team’s camp in Dubai and he was left out of the Eagles match-day squad that lost 2-0 to Guinea in a pre-AFCON friendly game played at the Bani Yas Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The Bayer Leverkusen star is one of the most exciting additions to the team but it is left to be seen whether he can shake off the injury.
A likely replacement will be OGC Nice striker Terem Moffi, who was a shock omission from the final squad despite his consistency and goals in the French Ligue 1 in the last three years.
Victor Osimhen remains the Eagles first-choice centre-forward and our correspondent learnt that he was only rested against Guinea. Sadiq Umar is the other fit striker in the team.
Peseiro has listed Atalanta ace Ademola Lookman as a winger for the AFCON, but at his Italian club he is a second striker and his numbers have been a lot more impressive there – 13 Serie A goals last season and already on seven this season.
Nigeria will face hosts Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau in Group A of the tournament.
The three-time champions will begin their campaign January 14 against Equatorial Guinea as they seek a fourth title in Ivory Coast having previously won it in 1980, 1994 and 2013.
Punch/Jacinta A
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