2024 CHAN: Eguavoen Invites 30-man Super Eagles Squad To Face Ghana
- 44-year-old Kano Pillars’ midfielder, Rabiu Ali makes surprise return to National team
BY VICTOR OSOWOCHI — Coach Austin Eguavoen has surprisingly included 44-year-old Kano Pillars’ Rabiu Ali among the 30 home-based players invited to the Super Eagles Team B camp ahead of 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers between arch-rivals Nigeria and Ghana.
Ali, the experienced midfielder for the Pillars, has demonstrated remarkable form in the current 2024/25 Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) season, scoring eight goals thus far.
According to the Squad list released by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Coach Eguavoen invited NPFL’s leading scorer, Anas Yusuf of Nasarawa United; Rivers United defender Steven Mayo; Remo Stars goalkeeper Kayode Bankole; and Rangers International of Enugu midfield general Kazeem Ogunleye.
Others include Nasarawa United’s Victor Collins, who was part of Nigeria’s squad for last month’s AFCON qualifiers; Enyimba’s Henry Ozoemena; and Abia Warriors’ point man, Sunday Megwo,
For the battle against the Black Stars Team B, the invited players are expected to assemble at the Remo Stars Stadium in Ikenne on Wednesday, 4th December 2024 to begin preparations for the first leg encounter to be played in Accra, the Ghanaian capital on Sunday, 22nd December with the return leg scheduled for Saturday, 28 December, at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Initiated as a tournament to promote players plying their trade in the continent’s domestic leagues, TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN), now in its eighth edition, will be held in venues across Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania selected to co-host the tournament.
By the Confederation of African Football (CAF) timetable, the Championship will now take place between February 1 and February 28, 2025
It will be another tough test for Interim Coach Eguavoen as Nigeria seek to go past their challenging West African neighbours who have historically denied them CHAN finals spots, the 2009 and 2023 heartbreaks still fresh in recent memory.
Full List Of Invitees
Goalkeepers: Henry Ozoemena (Enyimba FC), Kayode Bankole (Remo Stars), Nurudeen Badmus (Kwara United)
Defenders: Ismail Sadiq (Remo Stars), Waliu Ojewole (Ikorodu City), Imo Obot (Enyimba FC), Victor Collins (Nasarawa United), Ifeanyi Onyebuchi (Rangers International), Steven Mayo (Rivers United), Taiwo Abdulrafiu (Rivers United), and Junior Nduka (Remo Stars).
Midfielders: Jide Fatokun (Remo Stars), Rabiu Ali (Kano Pillars), Saviour Isaac (Rangers International), Musa Zayyad (El-Kanemi Warriors), Kazeem Ogunleye (Rangers International), Emmanuel Ogbole (Kwara United), and Papa Daniel Mustapha (Niger Tornadoes)
Forwards: Anas Yusuf (Nasarawa United), Adamu Abubakar (Plateau United), Osy Martins (Lobi Stars), Sikiru Alimi (Remo Stars), Sunday Megwo (Abia Warriors), Umar Al-Amin Ibrahim (El-Kanemi Warriors), Adams Aminu Sani (Kano Pillars), Abiam Nelson (Kano Pillars), Meyiwa Oritseweyimi (Bendel Insurance), Ngbemena Ikechukwu (Heartland FC), Temitope Vincent (Plateau United), and Samuel Ogunleye (3SC).
