Sand Eagles Begin Ghana Battle With Full Squad In Kaduna

Nigeria’s Sand Eagles have intensified preparations for their CAF Beach Soccer Africa Cup of Nations qualifying clash against Ghana, with all 20 invited players now in camp in Kaduna.

The team has spent the past week undergoing tactical and technical sessions at the Murtala Muhammed Square Sports Complex under the supervision of coach Christopher Kadiri.

Head coach Abdullahi Isa is currently with the Golden Eaglets, who are preparing for next month’s WAFU-B U17 Championship in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The Sand Eagles will host Ghana’s Black Sharks in the first leg of the qualifying tie in Kaduna on Saturday, 10 October, before travelling to Accra for the return leg on Saturday, 17 October.

Nigeria returned to the international beach soccer scene two years ago after several years away but narrowly missed out on qualification for the CAF Beach Soccer AFCON hosted by Seychelles, losing to Mauritania on the away-goal rule.

The winner of the two-legged tie with Ghana will qualify for the CAF Beach Soccer AFCON finals in Senegal, scheduled for 7–15 October.

As part of their preparations, the Nigeria Football Federation has approached the Fédération Sénégalaise de Football to arrange friendly matches between the Sand Eagles and Senegal, the reigning African champions.

Sand Eagles squad for Ghana qualifiers

Goalkeepers: Godwin Tale (Kada BSC), Nuhu Noma Aiki (Kebbi BSC), Olalekan Oladipo (Kada BSC).

Defenders: Victor Tale (Kada BSC), Taiwo Adams (Kebbi BSC), Emmanuel Ohwoferia (Kebbi BSC), Clement Eganosi (Anambra BSC), Effiong Eyo (Ibom BSC), Chinweze Gabriel (Anambra BSC).

Forwards: Dozie Frank (Kada BSC), Stanley Ekwe (Anambra BSC), Tanko Emmanuel (Kada BSC), Ekene Obi (Kebbi BSC), Hassan Abubakar (Niger BSC), Sadiq Umar (Kebbi BSC), Kazeem Oyewunmi (Igbogbo BSC), Hassan Abdullahi (Kebbi BSC), Godspower Igudia (Edo BSC), Hamza Bagudu (Jigawa BSC), Hamza Isa (Kebbi BSC).