CHAN Eagles will play tougher friendlies – Ogunmodede

Super Eagles B co-handler Daniel Ogunmodede has said the team will be put to the test against tougher oppositions as they continue their preparations for the 2024 CHAN qualifiers double header against Ghana, The PUNCH reports.

The Remo Stars coach and his Rangers International counterpart, Fidelis Ilechukwu, have been drilling 29 home-based stars in Ikenne ahead of the assignment which will see them play the first leg of their encounter in Accra on Sunday, December 22 before returning to Uyo for the return leg on Saturday, December 28.

The team have so far played three test games against non-league sides, scoring 11 goals and conceding one. They beat Grassrunners FC 1-0 earlier this week before thrashing Emmydinho FC 5-0 with a 5-1 win over G-12 Academy on Thursday.

However, Nigeria’s preparation seems to be a far cry from their opponents’, Ghana, who have stepped up with a friendly against Togo, but coach Ogunmodede said the team are taking their task one after the other.

“We know that the major thing is the cohesion of the team and the tactics,” Ogunmodede told our correspondent after their second test game on  Wednesday.

“The friendlies we have been playing aren’t really top opponents because we need the team to get their rhythm and cohesion. They are just like training matches and by next week, we will take it further with some high-profile friendlies.

“We are going into the qualifiers with 18, we will reduce them to 23 this weekend and the final 18 will be made known before the matches. Our preparations have been going as we planned. The players have been responding, and so far so good, we have spent seven days and the facility here has been crucial to their improvement.”

The eighth edition of the continental championship – reserved exclusively for footballers plying their trade with clubs in their country’s domestic leagues and possessing standard contracts – is scheduled to run the length of February 2025 in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

Nigeria has never won the tournament, having finished third at the 2014 edition in South Africa before losing the final against hosts Morocco four years later.