Julius OkorieThe desire of Bayer Leverkusen striker, Nathan Tella, to be part of the Super Eagles’ party to the World Cup Qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, has suffered a setback, no thanks to injury.
The 25-year-old who joined Leverkusen on a five year deal in 2023 for a reported fee of £20 million had earlier been named in Coach Eric Chelle’s final 23-man squad for the double header, but had to be dropped following a confirmation that the former Southampton ace is nursing an injury that forced him to sit out in the club’s 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of 16 final leg on Tuesday.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIn light of Tella’s injury, Super Eagles head coach, Eric Chelle, has quickly brought in Gent defender, Jordan Torunarigha, as his replacement.
READ ALSO:World Cup Qualifier: Eric Chelle, 23-Man Eagles Ready For Rwanda Showdown
Jordan Torunarigha, a former Germany junior international, joined the Nigerian senior national team in 2023.
As at last count, aside from Tella, Chelle who is eager to fire Eagles back into contention for the World Cup, has the full compliments of his squad. Eagles will first tackle Amavubi or Wasps of Rwanda on March 21 in Kigali before hosting Warriors of Zimbabwe at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo three days later.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing outing for Nigerian players in this season’s Champions League after they all booked their exit just before the quarterfinal stage. Raphael Onyedika, plying his trade with Club Brugge, suffered a massive 3-0 defeat in the hands of Aston Villa on Wednesday night, in the last 16 second leg, thus exiting the competition on a 6-1 aggregate loss.
Onyedika and Club Brugge ouster, marked the final exit of Nigerian players in the competition this season, as he joined the list of earlier eliminations that includes Ademola Lookman, who was unable to help Atalanta overcome Brugge in the playoff round, despite scoring within 35 seconds of coming on as a substitute.
Similarly, Samuel Chukwueze’s AC Milan, were eliminated by Feyenoord, in a tightly contested match that ended in a 1-1 draw at San Siro, resulting in a 2-1 aggregate defeat.
The duo of Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella, also booked their exits after Bayer Leverkusen fell to Bayern Munich, enduring a crushing 5-0 aggregate loss after succumbing to a 2-0 defeat in the second leg at home.
The implication is that there will be no Nigerian player on parade when the two legged Champions League quarterfinal clashes begin on April 8 and 9 respectively.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
