World's Most Physical Player And Lokomotiv Moscow's Idowu Handed Late Nigeria Call-Ups

Published: August 29, 2019

PAOK midfielder Anderson Esiti and Lokomotiv Moscow defender Brian Idowu have been handed late call-ups to the Nigerian National Team ahead of their friendly against Ukraine next month.

Esiti has been invited as replacement for the recuperating Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who suffered a hamstring injury in a Premier League match against Chelsea on August 18.

With the addition of Idowu, twenty-four players are expected to fly to Ukraine for the international match which will hold at the Dnipro-Arena on September 10.

Esiti is a combative midfielder and was the top rated player in physicality by EA Sports in the FIFA 19 ratings.

Since his celebrated move to PAOK in the summer, the 25-year-old has appeared in four official matches, including three in European competitions.

He has not featured for the Super Eagles since coming off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Zambia on October 9, 2016.

Idowu, a key member of Nigeria's World Cup squad in 2018, earned his last cap in a friendly against Uganda in November 2018 and missed out on the AFCON 2019 roster.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel