By Toby Prince
With just a point in the bag for Nigeria in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Tanzania, all eyes will once again focus on the Super Eagles at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
Sunday Oliseh will be hoping for first victory as coach of the national side when he leads his wards in an international friendly against the Menas of Niger.
The former Ajax and Juventus midfielder who got a dose of the bitter pill in national team management away to Tanzania will be hoping his side can show some improvement in front of their fans.
Super Eagles’ fans were indebted to the heroics of debutant goalkeeper Carl Ikeme who stood-in for Captain Vincent Enyeama. The Lille shot-stopper was excused because of the death of his mother.
Despite that lacklustre show, Oliseh was upbeat and is hopeful his team can use the display in Dar es Salaam as a learning process.
“We came here with the objective of earning the three points, but that didn’t happen,” Oliseh said after the goalless draw.
“It was my first match in charge of the team and I have learnt a few things which will definitely help us going forward.”
The draw with Tanzania is a major setback to Nigeria’s hopes of automatic qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations after Egypt crushed Chad 5-1 away.
The Pharaohs now top Group G with six points with an impressive 8 goals scored and just a solitary goal conceded.
A friendly against inferior opposition in front of home fans should provide Nigeria with the opportunity to build continuity and confidence under Oliseh heading into a busy period of fixtures.
Nigeria take on Burkina Faso in the African Nations Championship over two legs in October prior to a World Cup qualifying tie with Djibouti or Swaziland in November and home and away games with Egypt next March.
Nigeria’s last meeting with Niger did not go exactly to plan. They were held to a 0-0 draw in 2012 and a similar result this time around would be cause for concern.
Niger who lost 2-0 at the weekend to Burundi have played in the AFCON finals twice in their history, doing so in back-to-back years in 2012 and 2013, only to be eliminated in the group stages on both occasions.
Nigeria will splash at least $300,000 for Tuesday’s friendly according to AfricanFootball.com with the visiting Menas of Niger getting an appearance fee of $150,000 in addition to local transportation and accommodation.
The Eagles will each receive $2,000 as appearance fee with Oliseh pocketing double that amount.
