Super Eagles to face Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo in November friendly in Lisbon

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles will be playing a friendly game against Portugal's national team on November 17 in what will be the first ever clash between the two nations at the Estadio De Jose Alvalade in Lisbon.

Portugal will be featuring in the next World Cup taking place in Qatar in November and December and will be using the game to fine-tune their preparations. Nigeria for her part of going through a rebuilding programme, having recently appointed Jose Pereira as Super Eagles head coach.

Before then, Nigeria already a friendly match on September 27 against Algeria and the Portugal game will provide Mr Pereira with an opportunity to try his wards against top class opposition. Already, the Nigerian Football Federation and the Federação Portuguesa de Futebo have reached an agreement on the date and venue of the game.

Portugal has been drawn in the same group as Nigeria’s arch rivals Ghana, who stopped the Super Eagles from qualifying for the World Cup. At the moment, Portugal have an array of global football stars who will likely be facing the Eagles, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias.

An NFF spokesman said: “The match with Portugal will be the first clash at senior men level for both countries, although last year summer, the Super Falcons and the Senior Women Team of Portugal fought out a thrilling 3-3 in Houston, Texas. It can also be recalled that in 1989, Portugal’s U20 boys defeated Nigeria’s U20 boys 2-0 in the final of the Fifa World Youth Championship in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“The Estádio José Alvalade is a natural grass facility that holds 50,000 spectators and is home venue for Sporting Clube de Portugal. The facility is named after José Alvalade, the founder and first club member of Sporting CP who died in 1918. The stadium was opened in August 2003.”