Nigeria take on Iran at 4pm Nigerian time at the Corendon Airlines Park in Antalya, in a game that has already survived a war, a venue change and a squad overhaul before a ball has been kicked, Footynaija.com reports.
The fixture was originally part of a four-nation tournament in Amman, Jordan, but the Middle East conflict forced the Jordan Football Association to relocate the entire event to Turkey in early March.
Costa Rica and Jordan make up the rest of the group, but all eyes in Nigeria will be on the Chelle experiment taking shape on the day.
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Nigeria’s situation
Eric Chelle named a 23-man squad that generated more conversation for who was left out than who made it. Victor Osimhen is absent, recovering from the broken right forearm he sustained at Anfield against Liverpool last Tuesday.
Stanley Nwabali is out too, still without a club since leaving Chippa United in February. Tolu Arokodare, Terem Moffi and Ola Aina also did not make the cut, for various reasons.
What Chelle has instead is a squad that leans toward the future. Emmanuel Fernandez, the Rangers centre-back who grew up in Nigeria and has been convincing Chelle of his commitment, is in line for his first cap.
Collins Yira Sor and Philip Otele are among the other fresh faces getting their first look at the senior setup. Paul Onuachu likely leads the attack in Osimhen’s absence, and the question of how Chelle lines up without his best player is one of the more interesting things to watch.
Francis Uzoho starts in goal after being handed the number one jersey following Nwabali’s unavailability. Chelle has used this camp to be deliberate, and Friday is the first real evidence of what that looks like in practice.
Iran’s situation
The Iranians arrive in Antalya in circumstances that go well beyond football. The US and Israeli military operation that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month has changed a lot, and the football federation has raised doubts about whether the national team will even participate in the World Cup in June.
Several key players are unavailable. Sardar Azmoun, Iran’s all-time second top scorer with 57 international goals, was expelled from the squad after posting a photo with Dubai’s ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a gesture that was deemed disloyal given the active conflict between Iran and Gulf nations. Mehdi Ghayedi, another UAE-based forward, was left out for the same reason.
Iran are in Group G at the World Cup alongside Belgium, Egypt and New Zealand. They are World Cup-bound but unsettled, and Chelle will know that while this is a friendly on paper, there is enough quality in the Iranian squad to make it a proper examination.
What to watch
Chelle has talked about how this window is about taking a good look at players on the fringes of the squad, not just rotating the established names.
The debuts of Fernandez and Otele will tell us something about where Chelle sees the defence going post-AFCON. The partnership between Onuachu and whoever plays off him will be worth watching, given how different a target man-based attack looks compared to the fluid pressing game Nigeria played in Morocco.
