Ex-international Mutiu Adepoju is delighted with the form of some of the Super Eagles forwards heading into the crucial World Cup play-off against Ghana on Friday, The PUNCH reports.
With a ticket for the biggest football showpiece in the world at stake, the three-time African champions, who despite their impressive start at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year, crashed out of the competition, know that qualification for the World Cup would help pacify their teeming fans.
However, some of the invited players have hit the right form just a few days to the game, with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, Al-Hilal’s Odion Ighalo and Akinkunmi Amoo all on target for their various clubs.
Osimhen scored a second-half brace to help Napoli beat Udinese 2-1 at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Saturday, while Ighalo fired a first-half hat-trick for Al-Hilal in their 4-2 win over Al-Ahly Saudi in the Saudi Arabia Professional League on Friday to take his tally to 19 goals in 24 league games this season.
Speaking with The PUNCH, former Eagles midfielder Adepoju said he was delighted with the forwards, adding that their current club form would rub off on the national team.
“Ighalo and Osimhen’s goal scoring exploits are good for the national team heading into the crucial game against Ghana,” Adepoju said.
“When you are in good form for your club, it has a way of reflecting on the national team during breaks like this. Such performance gives you confidence coming to the national team and it will also serve as a morale booster to them.”
Nigeria travel to Kumasi on Wednesday for the first leg of their mouth-watering encounter against the Black Stars on Friday, before hosting their archrivals four days later at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
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