Golden Eaglets arrives Kaduna ahead of its friendly on Saturday

The Golden Eaglets have arrived in Kaduna ahead of a friendly match with Sokoto United at the Ahmadu Bello Stadium on Saturday instead of an earlier scheduled international match.

This is contained in a statement issued on Friday by the media officer of Eaglets, Morakinyo Abodunrin.

It said that the team would play its opponents as a replacement to Amajimbos FC from South Africa.

The statement said that the match was aimed at sharpening the players’ skills ahead of their international engagements.

It said that Sokoto United was drafted by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following the withdrawal of the South African club.

The statement quoted Dr Mohammed Sanusi, NFF’s Director of Competitions, as saying that “for avoidance of doubt, we want Nigerians to know that South Africa did not raise any security concerns about playing in Kaduna”.

The statement said that Coach Emmanuel Amuneke led the team of 21 players and eight officials to Kaduna on Jan. 15 ahead of the friendly.

“We are always comfortable to play in any part of the country and during this campaign.

“We had played in Abeokuta, Calabar and we had two friendly matches against Egypt last year here in Kaduna.

“Of course, we would have loved to play South Africa in preparation for Niger 2015, but we are happy that there is another game for us against United,” the former Barcelona star said.

According to the statement, some of the players to play in Kaduna include Kelechi Nwakali, Victor Osimhen, Kehinde Ayinde and Ebere Osinachi.

Others are Goalkeeper Udoh Akpan, Ebuka Nwokeocha and Amos Benjamin, among others.