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Chelle Invites Three More NPFL Stars to Super Eagles for Poland and Portugal Friendlies — Nwabali Returns as Okoye Dropped
Eric Chelle has added three home‑based players and recalled Stanley Nwabali for the friendlies against Poland and Portugal.
Eric Chelle’s Super Eagles experiment continues to evolve. The Franco‑Malian coach has added three more Nigeria Premier Football League players to his squad for the upcoming friendlies against Poland and Portugal, deepening the home‑based footprint in a national team that will need depth when the World Cup qualifiers resume in September. Rangers’ Chibueze Oputa, Rivers United’s Elias Ochobi, and Shooting Stars’ Ayobami Junior — all of whom featured in the successful Unity Cup campaign — have been promoted to the main group.
The inclusion of the trio brings the number of NPFL players in the squad to seven, and it is no sentimental gesture. Oputa was a rock in midfield during the Unity Cup, Ochobi offered defensive solidity on the flank, and Ayobami Junior provided the creative spark Chelle had hoped for when he scouted the playmaker earlier in the season. Their reward is a seat on the plane to Warsaw and Leiria, and a chance to stake a claim for a permanent place before the stakes rise in September.
There is also a significant change between the posts. Stanley Nwabali, who was dropped from the Unity Cup squad in what Chelle described at the time as a decision to test new options, has been recalled. He will compete for the gloves with Arthur Okonkwo, the Wrexham goalkeeper who made his debut in London, and Francis Uzoho. Maduka Okoye has been omitted — a decision that will raise eyebrows given his experience, but one that aligns with Chelle’s pattern of rewarding form and punishing complacency. The message is consistent: no player is undroppable, and every camp is an audition.
Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, and Alex Iwobi headline a 25‑man contingent that will face Poland at the National Stadium in Warsaw on June 3 before travelling to Portugal for a clash in Leiria on June 10. These are the final dress rehearsals before Nigeria’s World Cup qualifying campaign resumes against Rwanda and Benin in September — and for the NPFL contingent now firmly embedded in Chelle’s plans, they are the opportunities of a lifetime.
Stay tuned to Unuevbo TV for squad updates, match reports from Warsaw and Leiria, and the road to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
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