Peseiro Worried over Onyemaechi’s Fitness Ahead Of the 2026 World Cup
Nigeria Manager Jose Peseiro is sweating over the fitness of Boavista defender, Bruno Onyemaechi ahead of his side’s 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Lesotho on Thursday.
Onyemaechi was forced off in the 56th minute of Boavista’s 3-1 loss to SC Farense on Sunday with an unspecified problem but the injury did not prevent him from linking up with the Super Eagles squad on Tuesday.
The Super Eagles held a closed door training session at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Tuesday.
There are fears over the availability of Onyemaechi for selection, because he trained on his own as the rest of his teammates sweated it out on the pitch.
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Tuesday’s tactical session focused on shooting drills and building up the players’ stamina, while the goalkeepers in camp were put through their paces by goalkeeper trainer Olatunji Baruwa.
Peseiro now has all the players in camp.
It is all but confirmed that Porto defender Zaidu Sanusi will not be available for selection for both games as he is still recovering from a muscle injury to his left thigh he suffered in a Champions League encounter against Shakhtar Donetsk back in September.
Fellow Portuguese-based left-back Bruno Onyemaechi did not feature for Boavista in their most recent game against Sporting CP on Monday, October 30.
According to the medical report released by Boavista, Onyemaechi complained of muscle problems in the last training session before the visit of Sporting CP which ruled him out of the ninth round of matches in the Liga Portugal.
The Boavista defender seems to enjoy the trust of Peseiro given that he was the only outfield player that went the distance in the back-to-back matches with Saudi Arabia and Mozambique last month, and the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against São Tomé and Príncipe.
With the exception of the AFCON qualifier against Sierra Leone, Onyemaechi has been called up for all the games played by the Super Eagles since November 2022.
The 24-year-old is a very important player to Boavista, having started seven of their nine games in the league this term.
Meanwhile, Onyemaechi’s teammate, Chidozie Awaziem has been nominated for Boavista’s Player of the Month award for October and faces competition from Sebastián Pérez and Róbert Boženík to win the accolade.
