Super Eagles: Chelle reveals how Osimhen, Lookman absence affect Nigeria ahead of Poland clash

Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has spoken about the absence of Nigeria’s stars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman ahead of their games against Poland and Portugal, Afrik Foot reports.

The three-time African Champions are chock-full of confidence after winning the Unity Cup, sealing victories against Zimbabwe and the Reggae Boys of Jamaica.

The tournament also provided the opportunity for new names like Femi Azeez and Arthur Okonkwo to make an impression on their first outings with the Green and Whites.

While Okonkwo will continue with the rest of the team at Stadion Narodowy tomorrow, Femi Azeez will not, after Millwall declined Nigeria’s request to include the two-cap Super Eagles winger in their squad.

Super Eagles celebrate scoring. Copyright: xPhilxHutchinsonxImago

Chelle opines that Super Eagles are fine without Osimhen and Lookman

Speaking in his press conference ahead of the clash against Poland tomorrow evening, the Franco-Malian tactician thanked the Polish staff for their warm welcome, and apologised to the Nigerian fans for missing out on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

“We have an interesting match ahead of us, in which we will be able to test several solutions,” the 48-year-old said in quotes revealed by Sports Poland.

“We thank the Poles for a nice and warm welcome.

Former Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong and coach Eric Chelle. Copyright: xKarpushevxIMAGO

“We are sad that we are not going to the FIFA World Cup, but that is life,” Chelle continued.

“We need to focus on our vision and strengths. The match against Poland, which is a difficult opponent, is a good opportunity to check out several other solutions and players.

Quizzed about how Nigeria will fare in the absence of Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, the former RC Lens maintained confidence that there’s more than enough quality to go round.

“I have made a few decisions that I would not like to speak about in public.

“However, we have a lot of good players who will definitely replace the absent ones and play very well,” the Super Eagles coach concluded.

Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen for the Super Eagles. Photo by IMAGO

Kick-off for Nigeria’s game against Poland is scheduled for 7:45 PM WAT tomorrow.

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Adefolahan Guerreiro

Sports Writer