Oghenekaro Etebo Ruled Out Of Super Eagles’ Friendlies

Galatasaray midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo has been ruled out of the double friendly matches for Nigeria against Tunisia and Algeria after picking a knock in the Lions’ 1-0 loss to Kasımpaşa FC.

Etebo was among the 25-man squad to prepare Nigeria for their back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone in November.

The 24-year-old played the entire match on Sunday evening but he will not be part of the two international games slated for October 9 and October 13 in Austria.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) confirmed Etebo’s absence in a statement published on its official twitter handle on Monday.

“Super Eagles midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo is out of the friendly games against Algeria and Tunisia. He picked up a knock in his club’s game in Turkey yesterday,” NFF tweeted.

Meanwhile, Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr is expected to name a replacement for the injured midfielder within the next day.

Also set to miss the clash is Leicester City forward Wilfred Ndidi together with Napoli attacking hot-shot Victor Osimhen.

Ndidi suffered a groin injury when turning for the Foxes in an English Premier League fixture a week ago whereas Osimhen excused himself due to coronavirus concerns at Napoli.

Paul Onuachu who turns for Genk has since replaced Osimhen after a brilliant start of seven goals in seven games for Belgium side.