Nigeria handed major squad boost ahead of Guinea-Bissau clash

The Super Eagles will have a key player back in their last game of the group stage.

Nigeria qualified for the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations after a 3-1 win over Sudan on Saturday. The Super Eagles are leading the Group D standings ahead of their upcoming game against Guinea-Bissau.

A draw against the West Africans would earn Nigeria a top spot in the group. On Tuesday, the Super Eagles revealed they have one of their injured players back in training ahead of the game.

Chidozie Awaziem has returned to Nigeria’s training after recovering from an ankle injury. There were speculations over the player’s possible infection with the Covid-19 in recent days.

The Super Eagles returned to training last night ahead of their final group D game tomorrow vs Guinea Bissau

And guess what? It was d full squad that trained as Chidozie Awaziem was seen in training for the first time since he came to #AFCON2021

Guinea-Bissau is in trouble pic.twitter.com/0zRi9otKI8
— Radio Friend (@ogunmilorokenny) January 18, 2022

However, manager Augustine Eguavoen dismissed the claims, saying the defender will return to the Nigeria squad.

“Awazem is still down, he had an ankle injury as much as I know he will be back very soon,” the 56-year-old told Goal.

“Hopefully [he will be back] very soon, that’s beyond my control. I think the medical staff are here to certify him fit to get back on the pitch. That’s the much I can say about Awaziem.”

The 25-year-old will most likely start the Guinea-Bissau game on the bench. However, his return is, nonetheless, a significant boost for the Super Eagles ahead of the last-16 round.