It was 100 degrees in Kaduna yesterday and the high for Friday's clash between Nigeria and Egypt is supposed to be 95 degrees with humidity at 53%. In Alexandria it was 56 degrees yesterday, and in Europe where a bulk of the players on both teams play, it is even colder.
So we are talking about a mind boggling difference of almost 40 degrees. Bearing this in mind there is no doubt that the weather will play a major role in the outcome of the game,. Even though the NFF has delayed kick-off by one hour ( now 4 PM WAT or 5PM CAT ) its going to be sizzling in Kaduna when the game gets underway. In camp the bulk of the Eagles have been feeling the heat as they get acclimatised and prepare for the North Africans. Many complained but all agreed it would not be an excuse to grab the first three of six points. Meanwhile in Alexandria Egypt is doing the same, wearing tracksuits and sweaters [below] in training to try and reproduce the Kaduna heat.
Watford's danger man Ighalo shared with supersport.com " "The weather is very unfriendly to some of us coming from the cold regions of Europe but we are Nigerians and I was born and bred here, so I know we can adapt to our new environment fast enough to get the result we want. It is not a tea party we know but we are going to give it our best shot" . Meanwhile midfield maestro Mikel Obi was of the same opinion saying " As you just witnessed, the intensity of our training shows clearly that we are all raring to go and that the weather will not be an impediment on Friday. We are going to brave the weather and get the victory that all Nigerians are craving. The Egyptians will feel the weather in the Stadium [below] most so we have no reason to complain."
Carl Ikeme also described the weather as being suffocating but pointed out that this was the Eagles home and the Egyptians will feel it even more.
Ambrose Efe took it a step further saying, that while the weather would definitely affect everyone in Nigeria it wont in Egypt as almost everyone plays abroad and is used to the cold, but not the heat.
Kick-off time as alreay pointed out will now be at 4 PM WAT or 5 PM CAT and it will be live on SuperSport.
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