By Korede James
Former Nigeria international Etim Esin has questioned the size of the Super Eagles’ 39-man provisional squad for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Super Eagles head coach Eric Chelle released the long list of invited players on Monday for the fixtures against Rwanda in Kigali on March 21 and Zimbabwe in Uyo four days later.
Among the players invited for the key clashes are Ahmed Musa, Victor Osimhen, Victor Boniface, Moses Simon, African Player of the Year Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Stanley Nwabali, Samuel Chukwueze, Calvin Bassey, William Troost-Ekong and Ola Aina, along with a bunch of first-time call-ups.
“The number is outrageous; the most he could have invited is like 30 players,” former Super Eagles midfielder Esin, once nicknamed ‘Maradona’ for his brilliant skills, told Sportingtimes.ng.
“But the most important thing is for him to give Nigeria results. If we get the results all this talk about the list will not be important.
“It’s for us to just win, because the odds are against us. If we can win our games and the top teams drop points then we can make it.
“It would be very sad if we miss two World Cups, and after eight years how old will most of these players be? The dream of every footballer is to play at the World Cup.
“As a former international and a patriot, I will support the team and wish the coach well.”
Chelle is expected to cut down the squad to 23 before the matches.
