Moses out of Nigeria friendly, Mikel arrives at training camp

While 29 members of Nigeria’s 30-man preliminary squad may be preparing for their upcoming friendly against the Democratic Republic of Congo, one man will not – and that is Victor Moses. The Super Eagles’ star midfielder will join up with the squad in London where they will take on England in their final warm-up game at the start of June, as they aim to make a statement ahead of what is sure to be a challenging World Cup for them in Russia.

National team of Nigeria / Vlad1988 / Shutterstock.com

The 27-year-old continues to grow with each and every season, which some will see as surprising, provided that he wasn’t given much of a chance to succeed by the media after a few years of inconsistency. He was recently able to banish the memories of his devastating red card in the 2017 FA Cup Final by helping the Blues to win the 2018 edition of the competition last weekend, as they narrowly defeated Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley to hoist the trophy.

Moses is going to be an integral part of the setup for Nigeria this summer, mainly due to his overwhelming pace and ability to pick out passes that few others can see. He’s one of the leading lights in a squad full of potential, with the Nigerians being tipped as Africa’s best hope of finally bringing home a World Cup title to the continent. Of course, there are still plenty of obstacles in their way, but Moses should have some form of enjoyment during their group stage games with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland all possessing defences which could easily pose all three teams problems.

The Super Eagles aren’t immune to this, of course, but in a group as open as this one, they need to throw everything against the wall and hope for the best. Elsewhere in the Nigeria camp, the squad are continuing to push themselves to the limit in training as they attempt to prove themselves worthy of a spot in the final 23-man squad. They aren’t expected to make a final decision regarding who will make the cut until the actual deadline, which means that we can expect to see some passionate performances in their upcoming friendly against Congo.

One man who will be fairly confident of making the squad is skipper John Obi Mikel, who recently arrived at the team’s camp at the Ibom Hotels and Golf Resort. Mikel has been at the forefront of Nigeria’s midfield for well over a decade now, and he’ll aim to make the 2018 World Cup the highlight of his international career.