Interim coach Finidi George has said he hopes to lead the Super Eagles to a second victory tomorrow night against Mali even though he will be without Premier League stars Frank Onyeka and Calvin Bassey.
Brentford midfielder Onyeka featured in the Eagles first win against Ghana last week, while Bassey from Fulham has quit the team’s training camp after injury prevented him from seeing action in Morocco.
Already, the Super Eagles have been hit by the absence of key stars Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, William Ekong, Olaoluwa Aina and Zaidu Sanusi.
Defenders Gabriel Osho and Tyronne Ebuehi, and forward Taiwo Awoniyi also had to pull out because of injuries.
Despite these setbacks, Finidi said he is upbeat about another victory.
“We cannot at this time be dwelling on the injuries and absences that we have to cope with,” he maintained.
“Our intention has always been to win these two matches and then look forward to the World Cup qualifiers in June. We are determined to keep up the momentum and sustain the winning mentality derived from beating the Black Stars.”
Incidentally, the last of Finidi George’s 62 caps for Nigeria came against the Eagles of Mali.
‘The Gazelle’ was involved when on 9th February, 2002 the Super Eagles pipped host nation Mali in the city of Mopti 1-0 to win the bronze medal of the 23rd Africa Cup of Nations.
Mali signalled their readiness for this encounter with a 2-0 spanking of Mauritania also in Morocco on Friday.
