Real reason Ighalo arrived camp late, AFCON 2019 goal king misses Thursday's tactical session

Published: November 12, 2021

Allnigeriasoccer.com understands that former Manchester United star Odion Ighalo reported late for international duty with the Super Eagles because of a scheduled appointment with the doctors at his base in Saudi Arabia.

Ighalo ended speculation over his availability for the World Cup qualifiers after showing up in camp on Thursday afternoon and the first player he met was William Troost-Ekong due to their Watford connection.

The Al-Shabab striker had an appointment for Wednesday to get a second Covid-19 jab and that was why he delayed his trip to Morocco.

Assuming he didn't get the second dose of the vaccine, he would have been forced to go into quarantine upon his return to Saudi Arabia after the international break.

Ighalo didn't want to take that risk with Al-Shabab having two crucial matches against Al Faisaly and Al Raed this month, after the third international break of the season.

The 32-year-old has a difficult task convincing manager Gernot Rohr to hand him a starting spot against the Lone Stars as he missed the tactical session on Thursday evening.

Twenty-two of the invitees took part in the tactical session but Ighalo trained individually, along with another late arrival in goalkeeper John Noble.

Rohr has already set a precedent by relegating Watford-bound goalkeeper Maduka Okoye to the bench for the World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic in Lagos after his late arrival to camp.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

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