Tuesday, July 21, 2026

AFCON: Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali recovers from injury to start for Nigeria against Angola

Nwabali had passed the fitness test and thus retained his position as the team’s number-one goalkeeper at the ongoing AFCON.

• February 2, 2024
Stanley Nwabali (credit: Afrik foot)
Stanley Nwabali (credit: Afrik foot)

Goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali has been named in the Super Eagles starting lineup for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarter-final game between Nigeria and Angola on Friday evening.

Having been subbed off in Nigeria’s 2-0 win over Cameroon in a round of 16 tie last week due to injury, the feasibility of the former Enyimba goalkeeper playing today’s game had been the talking point among Nigerian football fans for days.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Thursday, the head coach said Nwabali will have to pass a late fitness test in the evening to know whether he could make the squad for the game against Angola.

Nwabali had passed the fitness test and thus retained his position as the team’s number-one goalkeeper at the ongoing AFCON. He has started all of Nigeria’s four matches in the tournament.

For the Angola game, Peseiro maintained an unchanged starting lineup from the game against Cameroon, with Semi Ajayi, Willam Troost-Ekong and Calvin Bassey in the defensive line.

Ola Aina and Zaidu Sanusi occupied the two wingback positions. Frank Onyeka and Alex Iwobi will play in the heart of the midfield while Moses Simon, Ademola Look and Victor Osimhen stay upfront.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

Migrants' boat

Africa

144 refugees, migrants dead, missing off Mauritania coast: UNHCR

“The refugees and migrants were reported dead or missing after attempting the perilous sea journey from West Africa towards Europe,” the agency said.

Daniel Ortega and Marco Rubio

World

U.S. govt condemns Ortega’s ban on elections in Nicaragua 

Mr Rubio urged the international community to rise against Mr Ortega’s dictatorship.

Oleksandr Syrskyi

World

Zelensky sacks Ukraine’s top general after firing defence minister

Mr Syrskyi’s dismissal came days after Mr Zelensky fired Ukraine’s defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, a decision that sparked protests across the country.

OIL AND GAS FACILITY

Heading 1

FG awards 37 oil, gas blocks to 31 firms

A total of 143 companies submitted 200 bids for 37 of the 50 oil and gas blocks originally put on offer.

Edo Assembly speaker Blessing Agbebaku

States

Edo assembly passes revenue harmonisation bill, targets unified IGR

The bill was approved following its third reading during plenary.

Burna Boy

Hot news Home top

 Burna Boy ranked as Africa’s best-selling artiste with 14.46 million equivalent album units

The 14.46 million equivalent album units were derived from a combination of album sales, physical and digital single sales, and streaming equivalents.