Pinnick Confirms Super Eagles Striker Will Be Back for Nigeria’s World Cup Playoffs Against Ghana

• Odion Ighalo could not make it to Cameroon to join his national teammates at the just concluded AFCON tournament
• The striker who recently joined Saudi champions Al-Hilal will be available for the World Cup playoffs against Ghana
• NFF boss Amaju Pinnick made this disclosure after visiting the former Watford man in Qatar where he is representing his team at the FIFA Club World Cup

President of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, has disclosed that Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia striker Odion Ighalo will return for the World Cup playoffs vs Ghana, Soccernet reports.

The Super Eagles will take on the Black Stars in March in a double-legged fixture and one of the teams will progress to the World Cup finals in Qatar.

Ighalo could not honour national call up for the just concluded Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Cameroon due to issues with the club.

But Pinnick who visited the 32-year-old striker in Qatar, where he is representing his club at the FIFA World Club Cup, assured that the former Manchester United striker will return against Ghana.

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Pinnick Tweeted:

“I just met with @ighalojude, the highest goalscorer at the 2019 edition of the AFCON, now playing and still scoring goals for Saudi Arabia’s biggest football club.

“Odion has assured that playing for his country will always come first and he is ready to ensure that we do play at this year’s @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar.”

Ighalo had initially retired from national duty in 2019, but he came out of retirement after speaking to Pinnick and ex-Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr.

Chelsea defeat Al-Hilal to reach CWC final

Meanwhile, Chelsea are through to the Club World Cup final after seeing off Al-Hilal in Abu Dhabi, and Thomas Tuchel now has a solid chance of clinching his second piece of silverware as Blues boss.

The Blues edged past their rivals on Wednesday, February 9, thanks to a solitary Romelu Lukaku goal, and they now seek to win the Club World Cup for the first time in their history.

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Despite the absence of Thomas Tuchel, who is still recovering from COVID-19, Chelsea showed extreme professionalism to get the job done in Abu Dhabi winning the tie 1-0.

Osimhen scores on return for Napoli

Sports Brief earlier reported that Victor Osimhen was on target in his first start for Napoli after returning from a facial injury that left him out of action for over two months.

The Super Eagles striker scored his 10th goal for Gli Azzurri in a thrilling 2-0 victory over Venezia in the Italian Serie A on Sunday, February 6.

Osimhen fired Napoli into the lead with a beautiful header in the 59th minute while Andrea Petagna consolidated the points in the 100th minute.