A former goalkeeper and assistant coach in the Nigerian national team, Alloy Agu is staying upbeat about the fitness of Chippa United of South Africa shot-stopper, Stanley Nwabali, and declared that Super Eagles’ fans should not panic over his availability for the upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Sports247 reports that Eagles’ coach, Eric Chelle on Friday kept faith in the ability of Nwabali to recover fully from an injury he recently copped in action with his club, as the Franco-Malian gaffer kept his first choice’s name on a revised 23-player roster for the upcoming games versus Rwanda and South Africa.
Agu, who played for MVV Maastricht of Netherlands among other clubs at the height of his career, has now come out with positive words in favour of a quick recovery for Nwabali, who he recalled overcame a similar scary situation sometime in the recent past.
The former keeper, who lost a tooth in a 1990 World Cup qualifier away to Cameroon, declared, “I don’t think we should panic. It’s not something new about football, and I believe he has not been ruled out of the game.
“You never can tell, maybe before the match, he could get better. So, it’s not something that we should start panicking about.”
While Sporting Lagos FC’s 15-year-old shot-stopper, Ebenezer Harcourt was dropped from the new list released on Friday, two others – Amas Obasogie of Singida Black Stars of Tanzania and Adebayo Adeleye from Volos FC in Greece – are still on the roster of players who will report to camp on Monday, ahead of which Agu noted that they both could get the chance to show their quality.
He acceded, “The other goalkeepers that are there are also looking for a chance to showcase what they have. So, we need not panic. Nigerians should just expect the best and keep praying for Stanley that he will quickly recover and play the game.
“He has done that before, and he can still do it again. In any case, the other goalkeepers can also be trusted and given the opportunity to showcase their own talent too,” Agu suggested.
Sports247 reports that the Eagles will first host Rwanda on Saturday, September 6th in Uyo, after which they will play away to South Africa on September 9th in Bloemfontein; with the Nigerians needing to win both matches in order to regain footing in the race to USA/Canada/Mexico 2026.
