NIGERIA have snubbed the Warriors opting to play Spanish side Catalonia in a friendly match as part of their build-up to the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals to be staged in South Africa next month.
Sports Reporter
Zifa had targeted the Super Eagles of Nigeria as the Warriors sought a friendly match ahead of the resumption of their World Cup qualifier against Egypt next year. Initially, Angola had expressed interest to play the Warriors, but Zifa were keen to battle either Nigeria or Ghana.
However, Nigeria have since opted for Catalonia with the match set for January 2.
The match will be used to select home- based players that will make coach Stephen Keshi’s final 23-member squad for next month’s Afcon finals.
According to reports from Nigeria, players, who do not make the final team will return to Nigeria after the game from their camp in Faro, Portugal.
The team is set to travel to camp in Portugal on December 23, while a fundraising dinner is being proposed to be held on December 29.
Zifa had been hoping to secure opponents for a friendly match to afford new Warriors coach Klaus Dieter Pagels an opportunity to rebuild the team ahead of the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.
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Pagels succeeded Rahman Gumbo as Warriors coach after he resigned following Zimbabwe’s failure to reach the 2013 Afcon finals.
Zimbabwe has a single point from the first two matches in Group G against Mozambique and Guinea.
Meanwhile, the Warriors’ inactivity saw them plunging three places down to 101 on the latest Fifa World Rankings released on Wednesday. They are now ranked 26 in Africa.