Leicester City defensive midfielder Wilfred Onyinye Ndidi and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen are in for the 2022 African Nations Cup qualifying games against Benin Republic and Lesotho on March 27 and 30 respectively.
Ndidi who starred in the Foxes’ 3-1 demolition of Manchester United in a FA Cup quarter final arrived around mid-day with Osimhen who was subbed on in Napoli’s 2-0 defeat of Roma at the stadio Olympico in Rome.
Ndidi is making a return to the team after a 16-month,injury-induced absence. The midfielder last featured for the Nigeria senior national team in the 4-2 defeat of Lesotho in Maseru in a matchday 2 fixture of the qualification series.
Osimhen on his part was in the Eagles squad that threw away a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4 against the Leone Star of Sierra Leone last November at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium in Benin City.
The Napoli forward scored once and provided two assists in the game before falling awkwardly and injuring his shoulder in the process.
The injury prevented him from the reverse fixture which ended goalless four days later in Freetown and 10 games in all competitions for his Serie A club before he tested positive for Covid-19 which also stopped him from featuring in as many games.
Osimhen has scored four times in three of the four 2022 AFCON qualifying games Nigeria has played to top the top scorers chart.