5 friendly matches Super Eagles will play before World Cup

shakirudeen taiwo

January 18, 2018 4:11 AM

These games will be used to determine how prepared the Nigerian team is for the World Cup.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has confirmed the Super Eagles will be playing 5 different countries in friendly games as part of its preparation for Russia 2018 World Cup.

These countries are England, Poland, DR Congo, Serbia and the Czech Republic.

According to Jairo Pachon, NFF’s official match agent, these games are planned to get the Super Eagles familiar with the playing pattern of their World Cup opponents.

"We've worked closely with the coach and the great support of the NFF to finalise these games," Pachon told BBC Sport.

"Coach (Rohr) stressed the importance of playing teams with a similar style to their World Cup opposition and we've got two going to Russia from eastern Europe.

"The game against DR Congo in May will afford the fans, media and everyone the opportunity to see the Super Eagles play before they fly out to Europe to conclude preparations," Pachon added.

Details of Nigeria World Cup friendlies

The Super Eagles will be making its sixth appearance at the World Cup and hope to make it count this time. Towards achieving this goal, the country has lined-up some friendlies games and the details are given below.

i. Nigeria vs Poland

The first friendly would be between the Super Eagles and Poland. The match will be played on March 23, 2018, in Poland.

The Polish football association confirmed this friendly and said the venue for the game is yet to decide.

“We can confirm that on March 23, we’re playing with Nigeria, a decision on the venue of the match is yet to be made.” Poland PZPN spokesman Jakub Kwiatkowski said.

ii. Nigeria vs Serbia

The Super Eagles game with the Serbian team would be the second World Cup preparation match for the Nigerian team. The match would be played in the United Kingdom and the proposed date is March 27, 2018.

iii. Nigeria vs DR Congo

After playing two friendly matches in March 2018, the Super Eagles will return to Nigeria to have encounter with DR Congo at the Abuja National Stadium.

The game is planned for May 28, 2017.

iv. Nigeria vs England

On June 2, 2018, the Super Eagles will be playing the Three Lions in a friendly game at the Wembley Stadium, London.

v. Nigeria vs Czech Republic

Lastly, the Super Eagles will get down with the Czech Republic on June 6, 2018 in Austria. This game will be used conclude the whole World Cup preparation.

Super Eagles manager, Gernot Rohr explained why this last match is important for the Super Eagles.

"The opening game is the most important match and we hope to prepare for it - against opponents similar to Croatia," Rohr to the BBC.

shakirudeen taiwo