Super Eagles to play Ukraine on September 10 as Iwobi keeps his number 17 shirt at Everton

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles will play a friendly match against Ukraine's national team in Kiev during the Fifa window of September 10 in what will be the first ever football match between the two countries.

Organised as part of the Nigerian Football Federation's (NFF) preparations for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the match will also serve as a warm-up for the 2011 African nations Cup qualifiers. Gernot Rohr’s wards begin their quest to qualify for Cameroon 2021 when they face Benin Republic on November 11 in a Group L fixture.

NFF president Amaju Pinnick: "This is part of our ongoing drive to expose as many players as we can to global football, so this should be another springboard for our young stars. I'd like to personally thank my colleagues on the board of the NFF for their continued support, I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with."

Meanwhile, Alex Iwobi has retained the number 17 shirt he wore t Arsenal at his new club Everton who he joined on Thursday. Iwobi joined Everton from Arsenal for £34m on a five-year deal with the move seeing him become the most expensive Nigerian player in history.

An Everton spokesman said: “New signing Alex Iwobi will wear number 17, the same number he wore at Arsenal, while Richarlison moves to seven, Michael Keane to five and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to number nine.”

Last season, the Everton number 17 jersey was worn by Senegalese midfielder Idrissa Gueye, who moved to PSG for £29m last month. Romelu Lukaku also wore the number when he was on loan at Everton from Chelsea.

Other players who have worn the number are Muhamed Besic, Tim Cahill, Scot Gemmill, Francis Jeffers, Gareth Farrelly. Iwobi is expected to become Everton's playmaker, a role which he has also taken on for the Super Eagles, pr4oviding both teams with the necessary cutting edge going forward.