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Eagles’ call-up shocked me, Musa confesses

Super Eagles skipper Ahmed Musa has admitted that he was surprised to get an invitation for the African Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho.

 

The Eagles Manager Gernot Rohr came under criticism for inviting Musa who has been without a club since October 2019 for the two matches, especially as he overlooked players who were in hot form including Paul Onuachu.

 

The former Leicester City striker admitted he wasn’t expecting to be called up for the two continental engagements because of his club-less status but he is duty-bound to honour the invitation.

 

“Sincerely speaking, I wasn’t expecting the invitation. I had ruled myself out because I wasn’t playing and I felt some other players could be considered ahead of me.

 

However, the invite came and there is no way I am going to turn my back against my country. The coach knows why he has invited me and my duty is to make sure I play my part very well,” he said.

 

The Eagles need just a draw to book their place in the Cameroon 2020 AFCON but Musa insisted that the team would not go for just a point in Port Novo. “Although just a draw will be enough for us, we are not going to play as if we are looking for one point. Football in Africa is tough, you can’t go into such a match looking to play a draw; we have to go all out and win the match.

We want to enjoy our game in Lagos next week, the more reason why we have to make sure we get the result in Benin Republic this weekend,” he added.

The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the team could be travelling on the high sea for the faceoff with Benin Republic, sparking fears among fans that are worried about the players’ safety.

 

However, Musa insisted that squad’s travelling arrangements were yet to be communicated to them and it would be pre-emptive to rely on what is reported in the media.

 

“As at today and as the captain of this team, I can say that the NFF has not informed us that we are going to travel to Benin by sea.

 

However, it is not our responsibility to determine our travelling arrangement; the important thing is for the federation to make everything easy for us in terms of making us comfortable and I think they are going to do that,” he added

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