Understrength Super Eagles Battle Russia in Novgorod
Duro Ikhazuagbe Nigeria and Russia will play an International friendly at the Sovcombank Arena in Nizhny Novgorod this evening (5pm) with the host European nation aiming for victory against the
Nigeria and Russia will face off in an International friendly at the Sovcombank Arena in Nizhny Novgorod this evening, with the European host nation aiming to secure a victory against the Super Eagles without nine of the team's starting 11 players. The injury woes and some European clubs' refusal to release Super Eagles players for the September-October international window have weakened Nigeria's squad.
Top stars like Victor Osimhen, who missed Nigeria's two 2027 AFCON qualifiers, are also left out as he is still recovering from an injury at his Turkish Super Lig side, Galatasaray. Ademola Lookman and eight other players who featured in the 2027 AFCON qualifier against Guinea-Bissau also skipped the match.
Despite these challenges, Eagles’ Franco-Malian coach Eric Chelle remains undeterred, seeing the opportunity to test new players in different departments of the team. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Russia's key player, goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, will miss the encounter in Nizhny Novgorod due to a return to Paris Saint-Germain.
Safonov, who played in Russia's opening friendly against Iran on September 29, was left out of the squad for Namibia's 6-0 victory on Saturday. With no injury reported, Aleksandr Maksimenko, Anton Mitryushkin, or Stanislav Agkatsev are expected to start between the posts for Russia. The two teams last met in a 1-1 draw at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on June 6, with Russia scoring an own goal by defender Semi Ajayi before Tolu Arokodare equalized for the Super Eagles.
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