Blow for Nigeria: Ezenwa to miss Mexico clash

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Jul 01, 2021. 13:00

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) technical director Austin Eguavoen has confirmed Ikechukwu Ezenwa will miss the Super Eagles’ clash with Mexico.

The 32-year-old goalkeeper picked up an ankle injury during a training session in the Abuja camp and he has now been dropped from the 23-man squad which will face Mexico on Sunday.

The Super Eagles are scheduled to face El Tri in an international friendly match at the Los Angeles Coliseum in Los Angeles, the United States of America (USA).

“It is a bit funny, he came with no problem at all and then we had a very tough training session, he complained about his ankle and the medical team managed him well,” Eguavoen told NFF media.

“The next day, he came out and that evening, he said he could not even walk and it was swollen. Up until yesterday, we were trying to see how far we can go, we have taken him to the hospital for a scan.

“And the good news is that the scan revealed there is no fracture, just ligament – swollen tissues. The swelling is still there and he has not trained for the past two days,” he added.

“He is out and I will speak to him later, he should just take it in good fate, another opportunity will present itself. He is out of the trip, so we are having two goalkeepers.”

Enyimba’s John Noble and Lobi Stars’ Nwabali Stanley are the two goalkeepers who are set to travel to the USA with the Nigeria squad.

Ezenwa, who is on the books of Heartland FC, has played 21 international matches for Nigeria.