Cameroon set up Colombia friendly for Super Eagles clash

Nigerian players, coaches depart for France May 22

Nigeria’s 2018 World Cup qualifiers Group B rivals, the Lions of Cameroun have set up a friendly match date with Colombia as they tune up for the crunch clash in Uyo in August.

Super Eagles home-based players and assistant coaches will depart for France on May 22 for an international friendly against Corsica taking place on May 26.
The Indomitable Lions will face Colombia at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, home of Spanish side Getafe on June 13.

Cameroun will face Morocco in Yaounde fours days before the clash against Colombia in their first group game of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The African champions will be guests of the Super Eagles in Uyo on Matchday 3 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and will use the Colombia game as tune up match.

Nigeria currently tops the group with six points from two matches, while Cameroun sit second with two points.
A win for Nigeria will see the Eagles one step closer to the sole group ticket for Russia 2018, while Cameroun will see their hopes up in smoke if they lose to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, a member of the Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Christian Chukwu has said that Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr’s decision to go for a friendly game against an European team, Corsica, was not good enough for the team.

“Playing an African team instead of Corsica would have been good for the Eagles because they are preparing for a crucial AFCON qualifier against an African team, the Bafana Bafana of South Africa,” Chukwu stated.The 2019 AFCON qualifier against the Bafana Bafana of South Africa is slated for Uyo on June 10.

Speaking with The Guardian, Chukwu stated that Rohr decided to use the friendly game against Corsica on May 26 to test some of the players. He stated that not releasing the full squad for the South Africa game remains the decision of the coach.

Chukwu berated the NFF for not planning well to ensure the Eagles played the second friendly game against Burkina Faso in London, saying that such games would afford Rohr the opportunity to test the strength of his players against an African side before settling for Corsica, which is a European team.

He declared that the France camping would have been good for the team if all the players needed for the AFCON qualifier were to be in camp.“The coach wants to use the friendly against Corsica to test some players. It might be too late for that because the AFCON game is just few days after the friendly but the coach has his reasons for taking the decision,” he said.