By ADERONKE OJO

Ladan Bosso, Head Coach for the Flying Eagles, has called up 30 Under-20 Flying-Eagles players to resume camp on Thursday (today) in Abuja, in preparation for the games in Accra, Ghana in March 8 to 24.

Ademola Olajire, Director of Communications at the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) stated this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a final list would be drawn from the 30 players invited to the Flying Eagles’ camp, to fly Nigeria’s flag at the men’s football event.

Nigeria is aiming to go one step better after winning the silver medal at the last edition of the Games in Rabat, Morocco in 2019.

He also led the Under 20 boys to the quarter-finals of 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup finals in Argentina.

The invited players are expected to resume camp in the Federal Capital, Abuja on Thursday at the Agete Luxury Hotel in Gwarinpa Estate.

Nigeria will play Uganda, South Sudan, Senegal and Tunisia in that order in the group stage of the 13^th African Games.

The Full list of the invited players are:

Goalkeepers: Nathaniel Nwosu (Water FC); Andy Ezekiel (Calabar Rovers); James Friday (Mavlon FC); Femi Oriola (36 Lions)

Defenders: Daniel Bameyi (YumYum FC); Benjamin Frederick (Brentford FC, England); Ibrahim Abdullahi (Kano Pillars); Emmanuel Michael (Gombe United); Emmanuel Onoja (Heartland FC); Ime Sampson (Dakkada FC); Haruna Aliyu (Doma United).

Others are: Midfielders: Daniel Daga (Enyimba FC); Auwal Ibrahim (Akwa United); Yinka Shola (Madiba FC); Farouq Olanrewaju (Beyond Limits FC); Chibueze Izuogu (Enyimba FC); Simon Karshe (Mavlon FC); Ibrahim Adamu (Real Sapphire FC); Ibrahim Idris (Kano Pillars)

Forwards: Kehinde Ibrahim (36 Lions); Danjuma Lawali (Mahaniam FC); Oluwaseyi Akinfenwa (Real Sapphire FC); Ibrahim Lawal (36 Lions); Charles Agada (Mavlon FC); Nasir Muhammed (Capital City FC).

The rest are: Sunday Joseph (Zamfara United); Olalekan Ibrahim (Central Football Academy); Muhammad Isiaka (Niger Tornadoes); Rabiu Abdullahi; Nathaniel Arierhi (Beyond Limits FC)

NAN reports that Over 4,000 athletes are expected to participate in the games. They will compete in 23 sports codes, namely Arm-Wrestling, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball (3×3), Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Chess, Cricket, Cycling,

And, Football, Handball, Hockey, Judo, Rugby, Aquatics, Table Tennis, Karate-Do Taekwondo, Tennis, Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.

Seven out of the 23 sports codes – Badminton, Cycling, Table Tennis, Tennis, Triathlon, and Wrestling – will double as qualifiers for the Paris Olympics2024, raising the stakes even higher.

Beyond the official competition, the Games will also feature a variety of demonstration sports that showcase emerging trends and disciplines.

These include E-sports, Mixed Martial Arts, Speedball, Sambo, and Teqball. (NAN)

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