The Super Eagles of Nigeria had their first training session in London ahead of their upcoming friendly game against England at Wembley on Saturday as part of their preparations for the World Cup.
The session which lasted close to two hours had 22 players in full attendance with Daniel Akpeyi coming in as one of the goalkeepers during the session.
Owngoalnigeria.com brings to you five players who distinguished themselves during the session which was supervised by coach of the team Gernot Rohr and his assistants yesterday.
Mikel Agu – Tipped as the likeliest player to be dropped from the final squad of the Nigerian team for the World Cup. Agu demonstrated why he is still in the team with neat, crisp and incisive passes in the middle for his team.
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Agu was particularly impressive in his link up play with John Ogu and Oghenekaro Etebo who were paired with him in the midfield with Simy Nwankwo, Kelechi Iheanacho and Ahmed Musa playing as strikers in front of them during the session.
Leon Balogun – His abilities when it comes to defending has never been in doubt but he took his goal yesterday with the precision of a seasoned goal scorer to power his team to victory during the session.
Paired alongside William Troost-Ekong for the team that looked likely to start against England tomorrow, his link up play, close ball control and interception showed why Brighton were quick to snap him up before the World Cup.
Mikel Obi – The captain was his usual self, winning possession and distributing balls with ease. His combination with Joel Obi helped his team keep possession and with Victor Moses and Odion Ighalo ahead of them they dominated.
He also looked entirely at home with his usual partner in midfield Ogenyi Onazi with the highlight of his performance coming midway through the session when he located Bryan Idowu with a delightful cross field pass.
Shehu Abdullahi – Sensing he is in a fight to keep Tyronne Ebuehi at bay in the battle for the right back slot. Abdullahi was solid in defence and also joined the attack at will. He is for sure in contention to start against England tomorrow.
Alex Iwobi – Provided the pass which led to Leon Balogun goal in a swift counter attack move which saw them turn defence into attack in a flash. Iwobi was on top of his game all through the session with his passing range and connection with Victor Moses who played from the right one of the positives of the session.
Michael James
