No rest for Nigeria as Italy come calling

– Nigeria will have precious little time to celebrate their qualification for the World Cup, with a friendly against European heavyweights Italy scheduled to take place in London tonight.

The fi xture at Fulham’s Craven Cottage will kick off a little over 48 hours after the African champions won 2-0 against Ethiopia in Calabar on Saturday to qualify for next year’s football extravaganza in Brazil.

Given the prohibitive timeframe, Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi is expected to use tonight’s match to test the depth of his squad, but his players are eager to finish the year in positive fashion.

“This is an important game for us as we begin our build-up to next year’s World Cup, so we have to take it very seriously,” said Sporting Braga left-back Elderson Echiejile, pictured.

“A good result against one of the top teams in the world will also help our Fifa ranking leading up to the main draw for the World Cup.”

Nigeria will hope to draw inspiration from their only previous meeting with Italy, which took place at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Appearing at the tournament for the first time, Nigeria came within two minutes of a stunning victory over Arrigo Sacchi’s side in a last-16 tie in Massachusetts, only for Roberto Baggio to force extra time with an 88th-minute equaliser before settling the game from the penalty spot.

Italy went on to lose the final to Brazil, Baggio missing the decisive spot-kick in a penalty shootout, but Nigeria are now seasoned World Cup campaigners and will be appearing at their fifth tournament next year.

Beaten semifinalists at this year’s Confederations Cup in Brazil, where Nigeria went out in the group phase, Italy bid to return to winning ways after three successive draws. –