Peseiro gives reason for handing first Super Eagles call-up to dual national winger Nathan Tella

Nigeria manager Jose Peseiro faced the media on Wednesday, on the eve of his side's 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho, and one of the topics he addressed was his decision to stick with majority of the players who attended the last training camp in Portugal.

Peseiro pointed out that the Super Eagles do not have time on their hands ahead of their opening match of the World Cup qualifiers, whereas they had a total of eight sessions during the training camp in Portugal in October. 

Bayer Leverkusen winger Nathan Tella was the novelty on the list of twenty three players named on the roster for the November internationals, before another fresh face in Bendel Insurance goalkeeper Amas Obasogie was handed a late call-up as a replacement for Udinese's Maduka Okoye.

Tella is a name familiar to Super Eagles fans as he is a product of the famous Hale End Academy, has Premier League experience and used to be teammates with Joe Aribo at Southampton before heading to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer to link up with Victor Boniface.

Born and raised in England, the 24-year-old has opted to play international football for the Super Eagles rather than the Three Lions and can become cap-tied to the three-time African champions on Thursday.

Peseiro revealed that Tella was handed a maiden call-up on the back of his excellent form over the last one year.

"I would like to train more but we already did because we trained before," Peseiro told reporters. 

"I know the players, only one new player came, Nathan, because sometimes I can check some players that in our eyes are doing well.

"The others know our organization, our leadership and I think it's going to be a good match."

Lest we forget, Tella was named in the Championship Team of the Season for 2022-2023 and played a key role as Burnley sealed an immediate return to the Premier League, scoring 17 goals and registering five assists in 39 league games. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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