For the very first time in the history of Nigeria’s participation in
the FIFA World Cup finals, the Nigeria Football Federation has given
Head Coach, Stephen Keshi, the free hand to determine where his wards
will make home at next year’s finals.
Keshi, who captained Nigeria in her very first appearance at the FIFA
World Cup finals, in USA in 1994, said he cherished the opportunity by
the Aminu Maigari administration and would always strive for the best
for Nigeria.
“I am happy to have been given the free hand to select the Team Base
Camp. You may think it is a small gesture but not every Head Coach has
that privilege. I am certainly going to use the opportunity to select
the best for our team.”
Keshi’s African champions will contend with two-time world champions Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran in Group F.
Keshi is presently inspecting a number of possible camps in the South American nation, and specifically around Sao Paulo.
Most of the 32 participating member associations are also looking
around Sao Paulo for their team base camp. A total of 83 TBCs were
offered in the final TBC Brochure.
A Team Base Camp consists of a Team Base Camp Hotel and a Team Camp
Base Training Site. All participating member associations must confirm
their Team Base Camp before the end of next month.
All teams must report at their Team Base Camp no later that five days
before their first match of the tournament. In the case of Nigeria,
that means no later than 11th June, five days before the Super Eagles
clash with Iran at the 41,000 –capacity Arena da Baixada in Curitiba –a
city of 1.7million people in the south of Brazil.
The Eagles will then tackle Bosnia-Herzegovina at the 42,000
–capacity Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, a city of approximately 550,000
people in the centre west, on Saturday, 21st June, before flying to the
south again to play Argentina in what is Group F’s most anticipated
game. That match comes up at the 48,000 –capacity Estadio Beira-Rio in
Porto Alegre, a city of more than 1.4million people, on Wednesday, 25th
June.
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