Former Super Eagles midfielder Moses Kpakor in an exclusive interview with Footy-Africa has urged the Nigeria Football Federation and head coach Eric Chelle to use the upcoming March international friendlies as a platform to begin rebuilding the national team.
On Friday, the NFF confirmed that Nigeria will participate in a four-nation tournament in Amman, Jordan, during the next FIFA window.
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The mini-competition will also feature the national teams of Iran, Jordan and Costa Rica, with each side facing one another in preparation for future competitions.
Speaking exclusively to Footy-Africa, Kpakor believes the fixtures present the perfect opportunity to integrate new players while gradually phasing out older members of the squad.
“I think we are in a good place with the Super Eagles and I expect that we should use this to start our rebuilding since we will not be at the World Cup,” the former midfielder, who featured for Nigeria at the Seoul Olympics and played at the Africa Cup of Nations in 1990, said. “We had a relatively good tournament at the last Africa Cup of Nations and we need to build on that by integrating new players with the view of getting to the World Cup in 2030.”
“Nigeria has now missed the last two World Cups and I believe it is time we plan properly and set things in motion with 2030 in mind. It is important that we blend both the old and new players so as to get good team chemistry between them. I saw some young players at AFCON like Tochukwu Nnadi and others. Now will be the right time to start properly integrating them into the team.
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As others are preparing for the World Cup in the summer, we should start preparing our own team for the qualifiers of the 2030 World Cup and other competitions between now and then. I am happy these friendlies are in a tournament format, and I hope the NFF can use it to improve the team in areas they are lacking. I also hope to see some fresh new faces in the team when the list is announced,” he concluded.
The tournament will begin with Nigeria facing Iran at the 17,000-capacity Amman International Stadium on Friday, March 27, 2026.
On Tuesday, March 31, hosts Jordan will take on Nigeria at the same venue, while Costa Rica will face Iran at the King Abdullah II Stadium.
