SUPER Eagles captain Wilfred Ndidi led 15 other players in the team’s first training session in Warsaw on Monday evening as the three-time African champions commenced preparations for Wednesday’s international friendly against Poland.
News Point Nigeria Sport reports that the highly anticipated encounter will take place at the 58,000-capacity Stadion PGE Narodowy in Warsaw and marks only the second senior-level meeting between Nigeria and Poland.
The two nations previously faced each other on March 23, 2018, as part of their preparations for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On that occasion, Nigeria secured a memorable 1-0 victory over the hosts at the Stadion Miejski we Wroclawiu, with Victor Moses scoring the decisive goal.
Both teams enter Wednesday’s fixture seeking to bounce back from disappointment after narrowly missing out on qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
Poland, known as the White-Reds, defeated Albania during the qualification campaign but fell short in the final hurdle, losing 3-2 to Sweden in the Euro playoff final. Nigeria also came agonisingly close to securing a place at the global showpiece, defeating Gabon before suffering a penalty shootout defeat to DR Congo in the African playoff final.
The players already present at the Super Eagles’ base, the Warsaw Presidential Hotel, by lunchtime on Monday included captain Ndidi, goalkeepers Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho and Arthur Okonkwo; defenders Bruno Onyemaechi, Zaidu Sanusi, Emmanuel Fernandez and Igoh Ogbu; midfielders Frank Onyeka, Raphael Onyedika and Tochukwu Nnadi; and forwards Moses Simon, Paul Onuachu, Jerome Akor Adams, Terem Moffi and Rafiu Durosinmi.
Defender Semi Ajayi, whose club Hull City recently secured promotion back to the English Premier League, arrived after lunch and received a warm welcome from teammates. Fresh invitee Abdullahi Bewene also joined the camp later in the day.
However, both Ajayi and Bewene did not participate in Monday’s training session.
Head coach Eric Chelle, who recently guided the Super Eagles to a successful Unity Cup title defence in London, expressed confidence ahead of the clash with Poland.
According to the Franco-Malian tactician, building a culture of winning remains one of the key objectives of the team.
“There is a culture of winning that we are trying to build in this team, and that mentality is important,” Chelle said.
“You can say that it is difficult to have games at this time because the players have been in holiday mood for about two weeks, but the job must be done.
“We have 18 players in camp now and we will work with that. Everybody must work hard and we will go into the match with the determination to win.”
Chelle put his players through an intensive 80-minute training session under light rain at the Stadion Polonii Warszawa as preparations gathered momentum ahead of the encounter.
The Super Eagles will hold their official training session on Tuesday at the match venue, the Stadion PGE Narodowy, where they hope to fine-tune strategies before facing the White-Reds on Wednesday.