Peseiro and his players will host the Likuena of Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, later today
By Kehinde Okeowo
Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro, has said his team will cope without their missing superstars when they face Lesotho and Zimbabwe in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
He made this known during his pre-match press conference in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, where he expressed optimism that the absence of some key players from the Nigerian team will not stop his players from winning the encounters.
Talismanic forward, Victor Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, and Zaidu Sanusi were excluded from the squad for the qualifiers due to fitness concerns.
Osimhen and Chukwueze sustained hamstring injuries in Nigeria’s friendly against Saudi Arabia last month.
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Sanusi on the other hand, recently returned to action for the Portuguese club, FC Porto, after spending around six weeks on the sidelines.
Speaking on the absentees, Peseiro stated that he has enough quality at his disposal to cope with the World Cup qualifying matches.
He said: “No Osimhen, Samuel Chukwueze, Zaidu, and others are not fit, but I am only speaking about them because you asked me. It’s better I think about the 23 players, come with more confidence; I don’t care about the others, only I said recover well, for that I call them.
“All of them I call all the time, not only Osimhen. I call them, you work well, good job, but after that when we start the camping, our team is this team, no other team.”
The Super Eagles will host the Likuena of Lesotho at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, on Thursday before traveling to Rwanda three days later to take on Zimbabwe at the Huye Stadium.