Iheanacho Admits Late Arrival Of Players Is Affecting Super Eagles’ Preparation For South Africa

Super Eagles of Nigeria forward, Kelechi Iheanacho has admitted that the late arrival of some of the team’s players is affecting the team’s training plans.

Kelechi Iheanacho who is among the first set of players to arrive in the Super Eagles camp in Uyo ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against South Africa on June 7 and the Benin Republic on June 10, said due to the absence of other invited players, the team hasn’t carried out a “big session”.

Recall that from Sunday, June 2, to Tuesday morning, only 15 Super Eagles players have been training because 8 of the invited 23 players were reportedly stuck in Lagos and Abuja due to the just suspended NLC nationwide strike.

On Tuesday, June 4, five of the players – Semi Ajayi, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Calvin Bassey, midfielder Frank Onyeka, and forward Paul Onuachu – arrived via a chartered private jet.

This afternoon, June 5, handlers of the Super Eagles Instagram page, confirmed that Alex Iwobi and Ademola Lookman have arrived in camp. As it stands, only goalkeeper Maduka Okoye is yet to arrive in Uyo.

“Obviously we are not yet complete and we are missing a few players, it’s just a little bit of an impact in the training sessions”, Kelechi Iheanacho told TVC.

“Some of the big sessions that we needed to do we couldn’t because we were not complete.

“It affects the training a little bit but we’ve got almost everybody today and we did a big session which is very, very important.

“Hopefully everyone will be around tomorrow for us to get the full length of the pitch and training that we need.

“Overall, we have been working really hard and training for a few days now so I think the coaches are doing a great job. We are really fit and ready to go.”