By Michael Madyira
The Nigeria camp was plunged into chaos after assistant coach Daniel Amokachi went missing as the Super Eagles prepared for Friday’s 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana.
The Super Eagles host Bafana at Godswill Akpabio Stadium as both teams push to go top of Group C.
But the hosts have been battling to put together a stable technical team following Amokachi’s no-show. There were several reports that he had been unhappy to work under head coach Finidi George and objected to the appointment.
Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Gusau, however, debunked the rumours.
“I am very happy when we unveiled Finidi to Nigeria,” said Gusau, per the Daily Post.
“The NFF technical director put all the names on the list, and they chose the best they felt would work.
“All the names you saw as assistants to Finidi were chosen by him.”
While the NFF boss could not be drawn to explain Amokachi’s absence, reports suggested that the former Everton forward rejected the contract he was offered.
George is now left with a technical team comprising Benjamin James, Olatunji Baruwa, Chima Onyeike and Mehmet Ozturk.
Nigeria was also affected by the late arrival of some players. Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye only started training with the rest of the squad on Thursday.
He was the latest to report for camp after forwards Ademola Lookman and Alex Iwobi also arrived late and began training on Wednesday.
While the Super Eagles have been in disarray, Bafana also endured a punishing journey to the West African country.
Hugo Broos and his men travelled for nearly 24 hours before arriving at their base in Uyo.
They lost a full day of training after their flight to Nigeria from Johannesburg was delayed by four hours.
After touching down in Port Harcourt late on Wednesday, the South Africans were forced to spend the night there as the local airport was closed.
They only arrived in Uyo on Thursday morning.
“Everyone is exhausted, but we remain upbeat and focused on the task at hand,” Bafana media officer Romy Titus said.
Bafana is second in Group C, while Nigeria is third, with one point less than South Africa.
Pictured above: Nigeria forward Samuel Chukwueze under the challenge of a teammate at training.
Image source: Super Eagles
