Eagles to play South Africa on March 29 in place of scrapped Ghana game in London

NIGERIA'S Super Eagles will face South Africa's Bafana Bafana on March 29 in a friendly game quickly arranged to make up for the abandoned match against Ghana's Black Stars which was due to take place in London.

On March 29, Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) officials had planned the match against the African Nations Cup silver medallists as part of their rebuilding plan for the Super Eagles. Three days before the game, the Eagles will Bolivia at home in a friendly match at the newly-build Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo on March 26.

Fifa, however, stepped in and refused to authorise the London game against Ghana, saying no team should play two games in three days across different continents. This prompted the NFF to quickly search for a new opponent and although a game has been agreed with the South Africans, the venue of the match is yet to be agreed.

NFF officials believe the South Africa friendly would present a good opportunity for the Eagles to avenge the draw with Bafana Bafana that stopped them from qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea. In that match as the Akwa Ibom Stadium in Uyo, the South Africans held the Eagles to as 2-2 draw, which was not enough to qualify the team for the tournament.