Eric Chelle says Nigeria’s young players must seize their opportunity against Russia on Tuesday after club restrictions forced changes to his squad for the international friendly in Nizhny Novgorod.
The Super Eagles arrived in Russia looking to respond to last month’s disappointing 3-0 defeat to Guinea-Bissau in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but Chelle’s preparations have been complicated by clubs refusing to release some players.
That has left the Nigeria coach with a significantly altered squad and an opportunity to assess players outside his established group.
“This is why we bring some young players,” Chelle told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s game.
“We lost our last game, but my expectation for this game is to give them an opportunity to show what they can do against a big team.
“And they are very motivated. We play every time because we want to win, so we try to give our best for this jersey and for our country.”
Chelle acknowledged that the circumstances surrounding the Russia fixture are different from the AFCON qualifier in Bissau, but said the defeat exposed an issue he expects his players to address immediately.
Chelle demands greater intensity
Nigeria’s performance in Bissau was heavily criticised after Guinea-Bissau scored three times to inflict one of the Super Eagles’ heaviest defeats in recent qualifying campaigns.
Chelle identified the intensity of his team as a major reason for that performance and expects a sharper response against Russia.
“The last game, there were a lot of factors,” he said.
“Because we lost the game, the first factor was because of the intensity of our team. It was not good.”
The coach believes Russia will provide an appropriate test because of the intensity and aggression they bring when they do not have possession.
“Tomorrow is not the same game,” Chelle added. “We have a good team. They put a lot of intensity when they don’t have the ball.
“We have a lot of aggressiveness in our team, so I can predict that tomorrow we might have a lot of intensity and aggressiveness.”
Russia arrive at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium in impressive form, having won their last four matches and scored 14 goals without conceding against Iran, Namibia, Burkina Faso and Trinidad and Tobago.
That makes the fixture a demanding examination for Chelle’s reshaped Super Eagles, even though it carries no competitive points.
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The friendly is not simply an exercise in experimentation for Eric Chelle, the Nigeria coach insists the Super Eagles travelled to Russia with the intention of winning while also giving their younger players an opportunity to demonstrate that they belong at international level.
“We come here to win also,” he said.
“We are ready, and we are here to show what we can do as a team.”
The coach also stressed that the players understand the responsibility that comes with wearing the Nigeria shirt.
“This is our job. We go everywhere to play, we signed for it, so we just go and give everything,” Chelle said.
“I believe in my players also.”
The Russia fixture offers Chelle two objectives; to see how his experimental group performs against a team enjoying a strong run of form, and to identify players who can strengthen his options when Nigeria return to competitive action.
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Among those hoping to make an impression are several newcomers, including Vince Osuji and John Otomewo, who were brought into the squad after the withdrawals of Victory Akpe and Wilfred Ndidi.
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