The camp of the Super Eagles of Nigeria bubbled specially on Monday evening after news came that France –based forward Samuel Kalu had been declared fit to future at the ongoing 32nd Africa Cup of Nations after another test in Cairo.
Team Administrator Dayo Enebi Achor hinted yesterday that team doctor Ibrahim Gyaran travelled to the Egyptian capital with Kalu to conduct the test alongside a CAF medical officer.
“Kalu has been declared fit to play as from now. His featuring in Wednesday’s match against Guinea however depends on if he is picked by the technical crew led by Coach Gernot Rohr,” Achor said from the team’s Helnan Palestine Hotel in Alexandria.
The pacy Girondins Bordeaux of France ace, who also performed creditably as a wing back in the AFCON 2019 ticket –winning 1-1 draw with South Africa in Johannesburg in November 2018, had fallen while about to take a corner kick at training in Alexandria on Friday evening. He was quickly stabilised but taken to hospital for a round of tests, where he was said to be dehydrated and needed to take more fluids.
The scare knocked him out of reckoning for selection for Saturday’s 1-0 defeat of Burundi in Nigeria’s first match of the 2019 AFCON at the Alexandria Stadium.
However, opposite is the news for Cameroonians players.
Indomitable Lions forward Joel Tagueu was yesterday ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations because of a heart defect.
A scan undertaken during the Indomitable Lions’ recent training camp in Qatar detected a problem with the striker’s coronary artery.
A statement on the federation’s website says there is a “non-zero risk of sudden death on the field”.
Head coach Clarence Seedorf is expected to call up a replacement for the 25-year-old.
According to team doctor Prof William Ngatchou, Tagueu, who spent last season with Portuguese top-flight side Maritimo, had been undergoing similar scans for over eight years but those tests failed to highlight any issues.
Seedorf’s side kick off their Africa Cup of Nations campaign against Guinea-Bissau on Tuesday (18:00 BST).
