Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro has revealed that there will likely be some new faces in the team when they take on Sao Tome and Principe in the final round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Nigeria booked a spot at next year Africa Cup of Nations with a 3-2 win away to Sierra Leone yesterday making their last game in the series inconsequential giving room for the coach to tinker with his team selection.
Ahead of the game against Sierra Leone in Monrovia, Peseiro was asked about the non invitation of the top scorer in the English Championship Chuba Akpom, a situation which he blamed on technical issue around his eligibility.
We discovered it has to do with getting a Nigerian passport. While addressing the issue on Akpom, he dropped a note on Jordan Torunarigha who recently switched nationality to Nigeria. ” Akpom not available now , the same as Jordan Torunarigha. When they are we will take evaluate their chances with the team”, the coach said.
Gent defender Torunarigha famously snubbed the chance of going to the World Cup with Nigeria in 2018 saying his father Ojokojo, a former football player in the Nigeria local league advised him against representing Nigeria.
He went on to play for Germany at several youth levels before a serious knee injury cut short his progress at Hertha Berlin. A loan move to Gent to regain match sharpness was turned into a permanent deal one year later.
One week ago, he backtracked on his international career saying his allegiance now lies with Nigeria and he hope to follow in the footsteps of his father by playing for Nigeria.
“My father has already played for the Nigerian national team, so I’m really happy that I can follow in his footsteps now. My goal is to be part of the Nigerian team at the 2026 World Cup”, he told RAN.
Peseiro’s statement shows he is aware of his availability and will hand him a chance most likely in the final game of the AFCON qualifiers, which will serve as the first warm up game ahead on the tournament in Cote D’Ivoire.
Osas Mahawi
