{"id":931091,"date":"2026-09-01T09:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/super-eagles-striker-to-miss-september-afcon-qualifiers-with-hamstring-injury\/"},"modified":"2026-09-01T09:16:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T14:16:22","slug":"super-eagles-striker-to-miss-september-afcon-qualifiers-with-hamstring-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/super-eagles-striker-to-miss-september-afcon-qualifiers-with-hamstring-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Eagles striker to miss September AFCON qualifiers with hamstring injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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\"Soccer<\/p>\n

Super Eagles boss Eric Chelle. Copyright: ImagoxToyinxOshodi<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Super Eagles of Nigeria will return to action for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September, and a striker will be unavailable for selection by coach \u00c9ric Chelle, Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u200bThis comes as striker Sadiq Umar has suffered an injury at Valencia. The 29-year-old marksman started for his club against newly promoted Deportivo La Coru\u00f1a on Saturday, scoring his side’s only goal in a 3\u20131 defeat. <\/p>\n

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for Deportivo, who were unfortunate to concede two own goals on the night.<\/p>\n

\"Soccer
Umar Sadiq of Valencia CF. Photo by: Imago<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u200bHe played the full 90 minutes. However, when he returned to the club for training on Monday morning, he was limping.<\/p>\n

\u200bAccording to Analytica Fantasy<\/a>, Sadiq appears to have suffered a hamstring injury. As a result, he faces up to two months on the sidelines, meaning he will only be able to return to action in late October or early November.<\/p>\n

\u200bThis is a blow for Valencia, as Sadiq is an important squad player who tends to deliver when the chips are down. In his absence, coach Carlos Corber\u00e1n will be banking on Arnaut Danjuma and Hugo Duro to step up.<\/p>\n

Soccer \u200bSuper Eagles: Chelle Spoiled for Choice in Attack<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"Soccer
Chidera Ejuke, Wilfred Ndidi and Umar Sadiq of Nigeria Super Eagles (Photo by Imago)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u200bSadiq Umar’s injury should not affect the Super Eagles significantly, as he has not been a regular under coach \u00c9ric Chelle.<\/p>\n

\u200bIn fact, the Franco-Malian tactician has plenty of attacking options heading into the September qualifiers. <\/p>\n

Galatasaray superstar Victor Osimhen is a fixture in the lineup, and because Chelle favors a two-striker system, Akor Adams is typically the second choice; he will likely make the cut despite failing to score in Venezia’s opening two fixtures.<\/p>\n

\u200bMeanwhile, other strikers are thriving at club level. Tolu Arokodare, Cyriel Dessers, and Rafiu Durosinmi have enjoyed strong form since the start of the campaign, and Chelle cannot take all of them. Consequently, he faces a difficult selection dilemma.<\/p>\n

\u200bIn the middle of the park, Wilfred Ndidi has been relegated to a bench role at Be\u015fikta\u015f. Raphael Onyedika, on the other hand, has been consistent for Eintracht Frankfurt, raising the possibility that Chelle might tweak his starting eleven.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\"<!--Kelvin Omachonu” src=”https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/thumbor\/DXglm-OQ_TFVjV92-C51XBVEBWk=\/150×150\/smart\/filters:format(webp)\/https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.soccernet.ng%2Fmain%2F2024%2F06%2FIMG-20240522-WA0001.jpg” height=”80″ width=”80″>\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tKelvin Omachonu\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n

\n\t\t\t\tKelvin Omachonu is a professional football columnist and sports writer with over half a decade of experience covering major events and delivering captivating, analytically-driven stories.
\nA graduate of the University of Ibadan, he is fueled by a profound dedication to sports journalism and the beautiful game. His insights have previously been featured in respected outlets, including IndyPress UI, UCJ UI Newshive NG, Sportpremi, and a few others.
\nAway from work, Kelvin is an avid fan of basketball, enjoys a great movie, and is always discovering new music.\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Kelvin Omachonu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Super Eagles boss Eric Chelle. Copyright: ImagoxToyinxOshodi The Super Eagles of Nigeria will return to action for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in September, and a striker will be unavailable for selection by coach \u00c9ric Chelle, Soccernet.ng reports. \u200bThis comes as striker Sadiq Umar has suffered an injury at Valencia. The 29-year-old […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":931092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3577,2005,4578],"tags":[7956,6323],"class_list":["post-931091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eagles","category-soccer","category-super","tag-eagles","tag-super"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/931091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=931091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=931091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}