Eagles are good to go in Saudi Arabia friendly.
Super Eagles take on Saudi Arabia this evening at the Estadio Municipal De Portimao in Portugal in an international friendly. It is safe to say the match is being used as shape up for the Jose Peseiro led Eagles who have been pitched against hosts Cote d Ivoire, Guinea Bissau and Equitorial Guinea in the next edition of the African Cup of Nations in January
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Peseiro invited a 25-man squad for the game, with only Hatayspor forward Fisayo Dele-Bashiru as the only new player. In the last five matches going into today’s encounter, the Eagles won three competitive matches losing one against Guinea Bissau in match in the Afcon qualifiers. The team also lost 4-0 to Portugal in a friendly late last year. The victories for Eagles included the 6-0 drubbing of São Tomé e Príncipe in the Afcon the closing matches of afcon qualifiers. In comparison Saudi Arabia have played five matches going into today’s encounter and have interestingly lost all the five matches to Oman, Venezueala, Bolivia, Costa Rica and Korea Republic. So on paper one may be tempted to say it should be an easy outing for the Super Eagles, but considering the impressive run of the Saudis in the opener of the last world cup in Qatar, no one can ignore the fighting spirit
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Given Peseiro’s history, Peseiro is expected to field a strong XI because the Africa Cup of Nations is just three months away, and he would be looking to build understanding in the team. The coach has full complement of his team, so it is expected that the Eagles will post a good outing and come out with a good results before facing Mozambique in the second friendly.