Duro Ikhazuagbe
10 November 2008
Lagos — The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says it is yet to receive an official request from Mali, asking for an international friendly with the Super Eagles.
Last week, THISDAYSports had exclusively reported that coach of Mali, Stephen Keshi was looking forward to a friendly match against Nigeria ahead of the final phase of Angola/ South Africa 2010 qualifying and has made his intention known to Super Eagles coach Shaibu Amodu.
But the NFF insisted at the weekend that no formal request has come from the Malien Football Federation for such a game.
"We don't act based on newspaper reports. As I speak to you, we have no letter yet from Mali federation asking for a friendly game," stressed Bolaji Ojo-Oba, scribe of the NFF.
He said that whether or not the Super Eagles will play the Eagles (Aiglons) of Mali is dependent on any free window on the FIFA free day.
"Besides, the decision on whether Nigeria will play or not is left for the technical crew of the team to make."
The Maliens, who are bidding to earn their first ever World Cup appearance, must pack weight in their feet to advance to South Africa 2010 as the group winners from a tough Group 4 made up of Ghana, Benin Republic and Sudan.
However, it is not likely that Amodu would accept the Malien overtures because the Aiglons do not play the same style of football like the teams which Nigeria will be locking horns with in the last stage of the qualifying stanza. Mozambique, Kenya and Tunisia are Nigeria's main rivals in Group 2 where the winners will qualify for South Africa 2010.
Nigeria and Mali met as recently as January this year at the Africa Nations Cup in Ghana. The subdued outing between the two West African Eagles in Takoradi ended goalless.
But it was an under performing Nigeria that sneaked through to the quarter final after Mali recapitulated in the last group match after losing 3-0 to Cote d'Ivoire in Accra.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
