Sports
S’Eagles Survive Plane Malfunction Emergency
Nigeria’s national football team was forced to make an emergency landing ahead of a make-or-break World Cup qualifier due to a cracked windscreen on the plane conveying them from South Africa to Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.
The Super Eagles are due to play the Benin Republic in a must-win World Cup qualifying game in Uyo tomorrow.
However, a malfunction on the plane carrying the team on their way home following a 2-1 win over Lesotho forced them into an emergency landing.
The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) confirmed a large crack appeared on the aircraft’s windshield about 25 minutes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, where they had made a routine refuelling stop.
This prompted the pilot of the chartered ValueJet Airline aircraft to initiate emergency procedures and return to the airport.
Everyone on board the flight including players, officials, and government delegates were safely evacuated upon landing.
The same aircraft had also flown members of the delegation to Polokwane on Thursday night before arriving in the South African city ahead of the crunch Lesotho qualifier on Friday morning.
Players involved in the Nigeria squad for October qualifiers include Premier League stars Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka and Samuel Chukwueze, as well as superstars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
Plans for another aircraft to fly from Lagos and pick up the delegation in Luanda was quickly drawn up.
The NFF said: “ValueJet Airline and the relevant Federal Government of Nigeria authorities, including the Hon. Minister of Aviation, the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Chief of Staff to Mr President, worked 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.”
Nigeria currently sit third in Group C of Africa’s qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup being hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Only the group winners in the format automatically qualify for the newly-expanded tournament, while the four best runners-up go into a play-off round.
Benin are top of the group, three points ahead of Nigeria with a goal difference of two better, meaning a win is crucial for the Super Eagles when the clash commences tomorrow.
South Africa are second in the group and host Rwanda in their final qualifier.
Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2022 tournament in Qatar, their first time failing to make the tournament proper since 2006.
The Super Eagles have never progressed beyond the last 16 at the finals – most-recently achieving that result in 2014 when they lost 2-0 to France in Brazil.
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.