Nigeria Confirms Ivory Coast And Tunisia Friendlies

Nigeria will play two international friendly matches against Ivory Coast and Tunisia in Austria, The Nigeria Football Federation has confirmed.

The Super Eagles will play the Elephant Lions on October 9 and then take on the Carthage Eagles for days later at the same venue, the association said Thursday.

The two matches will help Coach Avram Grant to galvanize his squad ahead of back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone in November.

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick said the proximity of the bulk of Super Eagles players informed the decision to play the two-high profile games in Austria.

“On the 9th of October, the Super Eagles will play former African champions, Cote d’Ivoire in a friendly game, then face another African giant and former champions Tunisia, four days later, on the 13th,” Pinnick tweeted.

“Both games will be held in Austria for a few obvious reasons. Due to the Covid-19 protocols presently in place and the proximity of the bulk of our team as well, Austria was seen as an ideal venue.

“I’ll have to stress as well, that all costs will be borne by the football federations of Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire, as well as Tunisia.”

Nigeria last met Tunisia in the last edition of Africa Cup of Nations third-play off in Egypt where the Super Eagles won the bronze courtesy of a solitary goal scored by Odion Ighalo.