AFCON 2023: Kelechi Iheanacho, Onuachu Finally Touchdown In Ivory Coast

Leicester City forward, Kelechi Iheanacho has finally joined Super Eagles of Nigeria in Ivory Coast ahead of the 2023 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Iheanacho was named in coach Jose Peseiro’s 25-man squad for the 2023 AFCON which will commence later tonight, January 13. He was expected to join up with the rest of the team in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the pre-AFCON preparations. But fitness issues prevented him from doing so.

Initially, the report was that Iheanacho would linkup with the team in Lagos on January 9, but that didn’t happen as the Eagles flew to Ivory Coast without him on January 10.

Most Nigerian football enthusiasts became impatient about Kelechi Iheanacho’s continued absence from the team and started calling for his replacement. Despite that, coach Peseiro kept him on his roaster and has now resumed earlier today.

The former Manchester City forward joined the Eagles in Abidjan about a day before the Nigerian side played their opening game in the tournament against Equatorial Guinea on January 14.

At the time of writing, it was not clear whether coach Jose Peseiro would use the versatile player for the opening game.

Meanwhile, Paul Onuachu who replaced the injured Umar Sadiq has also joined the team in Abidjan. It is not also clear whether he will play against Equatoria Guinea at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Naija News gathered that Terem Moffi who replaced injured Victor Boniface will join the team’s camp tomorrow, January 14 and he is ruled out from the opening game.