Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr has namechecked Glasgow Rangers star Joe Aribo among the new players who impressed him in last week's 2-2 draw with Ukraine at the Dnipro Arena.
Aribo put in an eye-catching performance against the Ukrainians especially in the first half and needed less than four minutes to score his first goal in a Nigeria jersey.
Aribo, Josh Maja, Maduka Okoye and Emmanuel Dennis received their maiden international call-ups for the game against Ukraine, while PAOK's Anderson Esiti was making a return to the team after three years in the international wilderness.
''For a friendly it was a high level game and we had a lot of satisfaction with these new players especially Aribo who also scored the first goal,'' Rohr told the Super Eagles Media Team.
''And our strikers with the quickness, our wingers, our midfield and even behind. You know that eight players from the AFCON were not here and we had to replace them.''
''And our strikers with the quickness, our wingers, our midfield and even behind. You know that eight players from the AFCON were not here and we had to replace them.''
According to Rohr, the starting line-up against Ukraine was the youngest since his appointment as coach of the three-time Africa champions and they held their own against one of the in-form teams in Europe at the moment.
''This team is the youngest one I've ever coached in Nigeria, the average age is not even 23, it is 22.8 from the starting team. Big satisfaction against one of the best teams in Europe.
''They lead their qualification group and have some world champions from the U20 World Cup in the list for the match.
''It was a very interesting game for us and I hope that the team will still progress,'' added the German.
''They lead their qualification group and have some world champions from the U20 World Cup in the list for the match.
''It was a very interesting game for us and I hope that the team will still progress,'' added the German.
London-born Aribo won't be cap-tied to Nigeria until he features in a competitive match for the Super Eagles and this could happen in November when they face Benin in an AFCON qualifier.
Igho Kingsley
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