Sports
S’Eagles arrive Uyo after aircraft scare
The team, who are preparing for their decisive 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Benin Republic on Tuesday, touched down at the Victor Attah International Airport, Uyo, at 8:05 am on Sunday, according to team media officer Promise Efoghe.
“Finally, Super Eagles arrive in Uyo, Akwa Ibom. The team touched down at 8.05 a.m. Sunday morning,” Efoghe confirmed in a statement issued to the media.
A video later released by the team’s media department showed players and officials disembarking from the ValueJet aircraft, signalling the end of a tense and delayed journey that had begun in Polokwane, South Africa.
The Super Eagles had departed Polokwane late on Saturday, shortly after their match preparations in South Africa. However, what was meant to be a routine journey turned anxious when the ValueJet aircraft, which had earlier stopped in Luanda, Angola, for refuelling, developed a technical fault mid-air.
About 25 minutes after take-off, the pilot made an emergency U-turn back to Luanda after a loud crack appeared on the aircraft’s windscreen.
The Nigeria Football Federation confirmed in an official statement that the cracked windscreen forced the flight to return to Luanda, where all players, officials, and accompanying government delegates safely disembarked.
The federation noted that the incident occurred after a routine refuelling stop, with the pilot “guiding the airplane safely back to the airport in Luanda”.
Following the incident, the NFF disclosed that ValueJet Airline worked closely with relevant Nigerian government authorities, including the Ministers of Aviation and Foreign Affairs, and the Chief of Staff to the President, to secure flight permits for a replacement aircraft to continue the journey to Nigeria.
“The ValueJet Airline and the relevant Federal Government of Nigeria authorities are working assiduously to get the necessary overflying and landing permits for another aircraft to fly from Lagos, pick the delegation in Luanda, and fly them to Uyo,” the statement read.
The replacement aircraft eventually completed the journey on Sunday morning, ending nearly 12 hours of travel disruption for the team.
Eric Chelle’s men will now turn their attention to the all-important World Cup qualifier against the Benin Republic.
The match, scheduled for Tuesday at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, is a crucial one for Nigeria, who are aiming to seal qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after a challenging qualifying campaign.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.