Sunday Oliseh Worried Over Aggressive Tanzania

Nigeria coach Sunday Oliseh is bracing the Super Eagles for a tough clash against Tanzania in their Gabon 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Dar es Salaam on Saturday.

The Eagles suffered a big blow after goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama pulled out the encounter following the death of his mother, according to BBC Sport.

Tunisia ’94 Africa Cup of Nations winner Oliseh has been backed into a corner to choose one out of goalkeeping trio Carl Ikeme (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Sunshine Stars) and Femi Thomas (Enyimba) for his inaugural game in charge of the national team.


And reports have claimed   Mainz 05 defender Leon Balogun could miss the clash after he sat out training on Thursday.

The Eagles will be without Watford striker Odion Ighalo and Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi when they face the Taifa Stars at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.

Oliseh admits the Eagles must give everything in order to prevent   the “aggressive” East Africans from pulling off an upset victory over Nigeria on Saturday.

AfricanFootball.com reported on Thursday that the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder is disturbed by Tanzania’s approach to the game.

“We have watched the video of Tanzania. They are a very aggressive team,” AfricanFootball.com quoted Oliseh as saying.

“We might get some surprises during the game and we expect anything from the side judging from what we have seen in the tapes.”

“There are three things that can happen in a game. We win, we draw or we lose,” Oliseh added.

Tanzania coach Charles Mkwasa will bank on   TP Mazembe duo Thomas Ulimwengu and Mbwana Samata for victory.

Meanwhile, Samata has warned the Eagles not to underestimate the Taifa Stars in the game.

“Nigeria is an established team with so many top quality players but even though we respect their great football tradition we cannot be taken for granted as we equally have the players who can deliver, supersport.com quoted the 23-year-old striker as saying ahead of the encounter.”

“We are treating the game against Nigeria as a final and I am happy with the mood in camp after my colleagues returned from Turkey. Nothing is impossible in football and my hope is that we upset the Nigerians at home in front of our fans.”