Osimhen, Lookman, Other Super Eagles Stars Set to Miss Poland, Portugal Friendlies
- Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle will be without a number of key names for the June international friendlies
- Chelle announced 24 players for the friendly matches against Poland and Portugal, but currently has 18 players
- The manager guided a team dominated by home-based and foreign-born stars to win the 2026 Unity Cup
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle will be without a number of key players for the June international friendlies against Poland and Portugal.
Chelle guided a team dominated by foreign-born players and Nigeria Premier Football League stars to win the 2026 Unity Cup in London.
Source: Getty Images
The team dispersed from there, and the core players of the Nigerian national team, including Wilfred Ndidi and Akor Adams, assembled for the remaining matches.
As noted by Sportowefakty, the match will take place at the 58,000-capacity PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland, at 7:45 PM Nigerian time.
Chelle to be without key players
As noted by the NFF, Eric Chelle arrived in Warsaw and oversaw the first training session with only 18 players out of the initial 24 he had invited for the games.
Top stars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman are the major absentees, which the manager had earlier confirmed
“Concerning Victor Osimhen, he is an important player for Nigeria and Galatasaray. This period is off-season, when a lot of things happen off the pitch, and we must respect certain decisions that are not in our hands,” Chelle said via Super Eagles X page.
“Ademola Lookman won’t be available for personal reasons; Femi Azeez had a decent outing at the Unity Cup, but his club will not release him for the remaining matches. Alhassan Yusuf and Samson Tijani do not have entry visas, while Ebenezer Akinsanmiro is unwell.”
There is also no confirmation on the status of the Fulham duo, Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey, as they were not named among the players in the Warsaw camp.
Chelle, however, refused to be deterred by the setbacks and is focused on building a winning mentality in the squad, capable of winning games regardless of the available players.
“The upcoming matches are friendlies, and I will approach every game with seriousness using the players available,” he said.
Source: Getty Images
“There is a culture of winning that we are trying to build in this team, and that mentality is important. You can say that it is difficult to have games at this time because the players have been in holiday mood for about two weeks, but the job must be done.
“We have 18 players in camp now, and we will work with that. Everybody must work hard, and we will go into the match with the determination to win.”
Osimhen clarifies Chelle’s statement
Legit.ng previously reported that Victor Osimhen released a statement clarifying Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle’s statements about his absence.
The Galatasaray striker claimed that his manager’s comments were misconstrued and that fans should disregard any attempt to spin it against what was intended.
Source: Legit.ng
