Gernot Rohr’s men left Lagos in the early hours of Monday morning and they have arrived on the island where Tuesday’s encounter will take place
Nigeria have arrived in Sao Vicente for Tuesday’s 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde.
The Super Eagles initially landed at the Amilcar Cabral International Airport on Sal Island because the Cesaria Evora Airport in Sao Vicente was closed.
A few hours later, it was opened and they connected to Sao Vicente via the chartered Air Peace flight that took them out of Lagos in the early hours of Monday morning.
The encounter is scheduled to take place at the Estadio Municipal Aderito Sena in Mindelo but the Super Eagles will be without their UK-based stars due to travel restrictions.
Rangers duo Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo, Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho, Everton’s Alex Iwobi, Watford’s William Troost-Ekong and Oghenekaro Etebo have left camp to return to their respective clubs.
The Premier League banned players from travelling to red-listed countries on the British government’s coronavirus watch.
Nigeria started their qualification campaign for Qatar 2022 with a 2-0 win over Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium on Friday, thanks to Iheanacho’s first-half strikes.
The win shot them to the top of Group C with three points after Cape Verde settled for a 1-1 draw with Central African Republic in their opening fixture on September 1.
Tuesday’s match in Mindelo is expected to be on an artificial pitch and in a closed stadium, however, Gernot Rohr’s men familiarised themselves with the conditions by training at the Legacy pitch of the National Stadium, Lagos on Saturday.
Victory over the Blue Sharks would stretch Nigeria’s dominance in Group C and they have been boosted with monetary promise if they could secure all three points on the road.
Before they took off from the Muritala Mohammed International Airport on Monday, the CEO of Air Peace Allen Onyeama vowed to give the Super Eagles 20 million naira if they win.
The three-time African champions have previously met Cape Verde just once in an international friendly fixture which ended in a goalless draw in January 2013.
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