The senior national team of Nigeria rounded up their training yesterday ahead of today’s high profile friendly game against Portugal, who are using the game as their final tune up game ahead of the start of the World Cup in Qatar.
The team had two full training session but never at any time had all the invited players available no thanks to Calvin Bassey, who is presently carrying a knock and will undergo a late fitness test before a decision will be made on including him in the squad for the game.
Per what we gathered from the session, some players stood out and most shocking of them is Watford goalkeeper Maduka Okoye. He showed amazing reflexes in training and also in the test game played among themselves. He is seriously pushing to reclaim his number one spot from Francis Uzoho.
Simon Moses showed his usefulness with a committed display at both ends of the pitch. The speed at which he defends and also initiate attack left the coaches nodding in excitement during the test game. Ademola Lookman on the other flank was also exciting with his direct runs, close skills and finishing.
Paul Onuachu was however the star of the session as he replicated his form at Belgium side Genk with some smart finishing. He also brought another dimension to the set up with his lanky frame and also hold up play which he species with his occasional show of skills.
He is usually the busiest in training and once again he didn’t let the tag down. Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi covered lot of grounds without showing any sign of tiredness. His non stop running all through the session outlined his usefulness to the team particularly if Jose Peseiro sticks to his 4-4-2 system.
