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Keshi to Submit World Cup List before June 2

First Bank Nigeria

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Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi has until June 2 as deadline to submit to FIFA Nigeria’s 23-man final list for the summer World Cup.
Nigeria will confront Iran, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina in Group F at the World Cup due to begin in Brazil on June 12.

In compliance with Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) request, Keshi is expected to submit a tentative list of 40 players this week.
From this expanded group, the list will be further whittled to 23 players which will be officially registered for the World Cup campaign.
All 32 participating countries going to the World Cup are bound to forward their lists of players few days to the kick off for team accreditation and overall planning for the tournament.

FIFA usually sets a deadline for teams to present their squad list, failure to comply will result in imposition of a fine of between $10,000- $20,000 on erring federations.
Nigeria will arrive Sao Paulo on June 11, a day before the start of the World Cup.
The Eagles, who last Wednesday played a goalless draw with Mexico in Atlanta, will meet Scotland in London on May 28 in continuation of their build up for the World Cup.

They will immediately head for the United States where they will have a pre-World Cup training camp and play two warm up matches.
While Nigeria’s opponent for the June 3 date is yet to be disclosed, the United States Football Federation  has announced that it will play Nigeria in Jacksonville, Florida on June 7.

US coach Jurgen Klinsmann is hoping that the match against Nigeria will give his team team vital clues on Ghana who the Americans are meeting in Group G in Natal on June 16.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has expressed satisfaction with the Super Eagles’ performance in the international friendly against Mexico.

“The match ended scoreless but I can tell you that the NFF is happy with the output of the players and it was well worth the effort to arrange this game,” NFF President, Aminu Maigari, said in Atlanta,
minutes after the game that ended 0-0 but saw the nearly 70,000 crowd applaud both teams into the dressing room.
Maigari was especially delighted with the performance of new boys Michael Uchebo, Leon Balogun, Imoh Ezekiel and Ramon Azeez in the prestige encounter.

“The new players did not show any stage fright, and the old guard provided them with the confidence necessary to stand up to the Mexicans. We must remember that Mexico is one of the strongest teams
in the world, and our ability to stand up to them on a neutral soil means we are gradually getting into the form for the FIFA World Cup finals,” Maigari added.

The Eagles next play Scotland in London on May 28 before flying to Philadelphia for the first of two friendly matches in America, with the second coming up in Jacksonville few days to the team’s departure to the 20th FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.
In Brazil, the Super Eagles will stay at the Vitoria Hotel Concept in Campinas, 70 minutes’ drive from Sao Paulo International Airport, and play Iran in Curitiba on June 16, Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiaba on June 21 and Argentina in Porto Alegre on June 25 – exactly 20 years to the day Nigeria and Argentina first squared up at the biggest stage, in Boston, United States of America.

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