5 June 2011
The national senior football team, Super Eagles landed in Addis Ababa in the early hours of Sunday for the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying match against the Walias Antelopes of Ethiopia taking place the same day.
The chartered Air Nigeria Boeing 737-300 aircraft with 94 passengers on board departed the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport at about 8pm on Saturday and landed in Entebbe Airport (Kampala, Uganda) after four hours, where it re-fuelled and then took off after 90 minutes for the 100-minute flight from Kampala to Addis Ababa.
The delegation, led by NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari landed in Addis Ababa at few minutes past 7am Ethiopian time, and the players were immediately driven to the Churchill Hotel in the capital.
In the delegation were 22 players, 13 members of technical crew, three members of the NFF Executive Committee (Alhaji Maigari, Olaleye Adepoju and Alhaji Ahmed Yusuf), two members of the NFF Technical Committee (Chief Adegboye Onigbinde and Jay Jay Okocha), two members of NFF the Management, some secretariat staff, 13 media representatives, stakeholders and 22 members of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club.
The players rested for hours before a light walk-out around the hotel. Sunday’s match will kick off at the National Stadium, Addis Ababa at 4pm Ethiopia time (2pm Nigeria time.
The match is a must win for Nigeria, which currently trails group leaders, Guinea by three points and with only two games left after today.
The Eagles should be in a buoyant mood following their 4-1 victory over Argentina in a midweek friendly played at the Abuja National Stadium, although coach Samson Siasia was quick to note that the Nations Cup qualifier was much more important than the friendly.
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Nigeria/Ethiopia: Eagles Arrive in Addis Ababa to Play Antelopes