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Why Nigeria against Tanzania friendly
2007-05-02 09:20:32
By Guardian Reporter
Nigeria Football Association Secretary General Bolaji Ojo-Oba has announced that they have cancelled the friendly international match between the Super Eagles and their Tanzanian counterparts, Taifa Stars, billed for May 27 in Dar es Salaam because of flight problems.
Giving further reasons for the cancellation, the NFA official said his management discovered that honouring the encounter meant that the Eagles would have had to connect their flight from Dar es Salaam via Nairobi to Kampala, as there was no direct flight from Dar es Salaam to Kampala, The Guardian of Nigeria reported yesterday.
Nigeria will play their African Nations Cup qualifying return leg match on June 2. They won the first leg 1-0 in Lagos.
``We also felt that since the Tanzanian encounter was meant to commemorate the country`s membership of the Commonwealth, it would not serve the purpose and more so, jet lag would have been a major problem for the Super Eagles players because of the connection of flight to Kampala,`` he pointed out.
On the list of 23 players that national coach Berti Vogts from Germany had requested for the Kampala clash, Ojo-Oba said the NFA had to increase the number to 28 in order to avoid the problem of injuries, which could force the technical crew to start searching for replacements at the zero hour.
The two teams were expected to use the match to prepare for their African Cup of Nations qualifying matches.
Stars will host Senegal on June 2 in a Group Seven qualifying return leg match, while Nigeria will encounter Uganda the same weekend.
Stars had also planned to play international friendlies against Libya and Zambia.
Taifa Stars are expected to assemble on May 14 for camp training.
They beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Dar es Salaam before drawing 0-0 with Mozambique in Maputo.
Stars are placed third in the group on four points.
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