The home-based Super Eagles have been granted visas by the US embassy for their high-profile friendly match against Mexico this weekend.
23 players from Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) will part in the match at the Los Angeles Coliseum due to the unavailability of Gernot Rohr’s regular side, who are preparing for their respective clubs’ pre-season.
The team is expected to depart for the US from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja tomorrow.
Three–time African champions Nigeria will clash with the CONCACAF Gold Cup holders on 3rd July in what is part of the Mexican’s MexTour Series.
The match, which kicks off at 7.30pm LA time will be the sixth confrontation between the senior teams of both countries, four of which have ended in draws. The only win in the series has gone to Mexico, when they trumped a US Gold Cup encounter in Dallas (State of Texas) 2-1 on 24th June 1995.
Close-fought confrontations include a 1-1 draw at the FIFA Intercontinental Tournament for the King Fahd Cup (now FIF Confederations Cup) in Saudi Arabia on 13th January 1995 (Mexico prevailed 5-4 on penalties in the quarter final match), and 0-0 draws in friendly matches in Houston and Atlanta the previous decade.
A friendly game in Mexico also ended 2-2. It is expected that the LA Coliseum, a 77,500–capacity facility that has hosted major international championships of all grades, will be at full capacity for the friendly match.
