By Uzor Odigbo
Super Eagles of Nigeria have jetted out for Freetown Sierra Leone aboard a chartered flight on Monday morning.
Super Eagles will be facing the Sierra Leoneans for their Match Day 4 fixture on Tuesday November 17, 2020.
But the team will not be with the arrowhead striker, Victor Osimhen, who left the Nigerian camp to return to his club base in Napoli, Italy following the shoulder injury he had in Friday’s match.
He was stretchered off the pitch and taken to a hospital in Benin.
He is probably the first player to take a ride in the GAC Motor ambulance donated to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) last Tuesday in Lagos.
According to the Media Officer, Babafemi Raji, all members of the Nigerian delegation to Freetown passed the COVID-19 test at the airport. It is not clear if they will again take the test in Freetown ahead of Tuesday’s match.
Meanwhile, Captain of Sierra Leone national team, Umaru Bangura, will not feature in the Africa Cup of Nations’ Match Day 4 with Nigeria on Tuesday in Sierra Leone.
The 32nd minute yellow card he obtained in the game with Nigeria on Friday was his second in the Africa Cup of Nations’ qualifying series.
In the Match Day 1 with Lesotho in Freetown on November 13, 2019, exactly a year before the Benin City match, it was revealed that Bangura was cautioned in the 15th minute of the game that ended 1-1.
Also recall that the skipper and FC Zurich defender was originally excluded from the Match Day 3 fixtures having tested positive to Covid-19 in Niger Republic last month.
He apparently regained his health after observing the mandatory 14-day self-isolation.
