Super Eagles squad arrive in Porto Novo ahead of AFCON qualifiers (Video)
The Super Eagles of Nigeria squad have arrived in Porto Novo ahead of the 2022 AFCON qualifiers clash with the Benin Republic.
The match is set to take place on Saturday, March 27th, 2021.
The squad left Nigeria on Friday morning, March 26, using the country’s waterways due to the proximity of both West African countries. They were escorted by several security officials in smaller boats.
The decision to travel by boat was taken in order to help the Super Eagles avoid the heavy traffic in Lagos if they were to travel by road.
Earlier this month, the President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick said the FA was contemplating either going to Benin by road or by boat with support from the Lagos State Government.
“Going to Cotonou by boat, I do that all the time when we were going to inspect, we did it, there’s nothing wrong in exploring other forms of adventure in Nigeria,” Pinnick said .
“There’s nobody in Lagos that has not been to Ilashe or been to Tarkwa Bay, so it’s the same thing, so what’s the big deal?
“Look at the Lagos boat terminal, it’s one of the best in the world that I’ve seen, so why don’t we use all those things if we have them?
“So it’s just a projection, we have not agreed on it. We are looking at going by road to Cotonou which is our next-door neighbour because even if you want to leave Eko Hotel to the Murtala Muhammed Airport it is half the journey of going to Cotonou, so why do you need to fly and go to Cotonou?
“We might either go by road, we are working with the Lagos State Government, from here I have a meeting with the Lagos State Governor.
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“All those are things we want to explore and see what is best suited for that and once we say we are going by the creeks to Cotonou, of course, we’ll provide every requisite, will provide the enabling environment for them to go in terms of security, in terms of everything.
“But people should look at Nigeria beyond that, there’s no country in this world that doesn’t have black spots but we live and try to live.”
Nigeria lead the Group L table after picking up eight points from four matches and Benin trail the three-time African champions by just a point in second spot.
Back in November 2019, Nigeria defeated Benin 2-1 in their first qualifying match as goals from Victor Osimhen and Samuel Kalu cancelled out Stephane Sessegnon’s opener to give the hosts maximum points at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium
They arrived in Porto Novo at about 1:59 PM. Watch the moment the arrived Port Novo below;
Super Eagles squad arrive Porto Novo ahead of AFCON qualifiers clash with Benin Republic on Saturday, March 27. pic.twitter.com/BVnFrrAhcu
— OSMEK NEWS (@osmek_media) March 27, 2021
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