Super Eagles Camp Comes Alive as Premier League Hat-Trick Hero Arrives Lagos Ahead of AFCON Qualifiers

Super Eagles Camp Comes Alive as Premier League Hat-Trick Hero Arrives Lagos Ahead of AFCON Qualifiers

Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:41 PM

- Kelechi Iheanacho has arrived the Super Eagles camp as Nigeria get set for Benin and Lesotho

- The Nigerian star scored two goals helping Leicester City defeat Man Utd 3-1 in the FA Cup

- Nigeria take on Benin and Lesotho in the final lap of AFCON 2021 qualifiers

PAY ATTENTION: Join Legit.ng Telegram channel! Never miss important updates!

Leicester City forward Kelechi has joined the Super Eagles party as they prepare for their AFCON qualifying matches against Benin and Lesotho.

The Super Eagles will take on the Squirrels of Benin on Saturday, March 27, before playing host to Lesotho on March 30 at the Teslim Balogun.

All invited players have stormed the Eko Hotel camp of the team including Kelechi Iheanacho who returned to Nigeria days after helping Leicester City defeat Manchester United 3-1 in the FA Cup.

He equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's 13 goals FA Cup record after netting twice against the Red Devils helping the Foxes reach the semi-final of the competition.

The 24-year-old opened the scoring for the hosts in the 24th minute but Mason Greenwood's 38th-minute equaliser cancelled out the opener.

Youri Tielemans restored the Foxes' leadership seven minutes into the second half while the Super Eagles attacker completed his double in the 78th minute of the meeting.

Iheanacho has now overtaken legendary players like Didier Drogba, Alan Shearer, Robbie Keane, Heung-min Son and a host of others who have 12 goals in the history of the tourney.

He achieved the feat with lesser games - 13 goals in 18 games, compared to Ronaldo's reaching the same number after 26 matches. Scholes needed 47 appearances to match-up to the tally.

Recall that the 24-year-old also grabbed his first Premier League hat-trick on Sunday, March 14, helping Leicester City defeat Sheffield United 5-0.

Super Eagles camp comes alive as Premier League hat-trick hero arrives Lagos ahead of AFCON qualifiers
Kelechi Iheanacho celebrates his goal. Photo: Plumb Images
Source: Getty Images

Leicester took full advantage of both Chelsea and Everton’s slip this weekend and of a team bereft of, well, anything.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng earlier reported that Squirrels of Benin coach Michel Dussuyer has stated that his side will go all out for the maximum points.

“We have respect for Nigeria but we also have out assets. We will approach the game with a lot of seriousness and determination.
“We know what we have to do. On Saturday our ambition is to win. It will not be an easy task but we have hopes.”

Babajide Orevba is a digital publishing expert, an avid sports content thinker, researcher and writer. He is a graduate of Guidance and Counselling, having bagged his B.SC (ED) from the Ekiti State University. He can be reached on Twitter @JideOrevba

Authors
Babajide Orevba photo
Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
Tags
Nigeria