Rangers star, Joe Aribo, is eyeing goals for Nigeria ahead of a pair of Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Sierra Leone [Goal.com].
The 24-year-old hasn’t played for his country in a year, with his last outing coming in a 4-2 win over Lesotho, prior to the onset of the global health crisis.
An ankle injury picked up in August saw him miss several months worth of club fixtures as well as international friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia.
He returned to fitness in October, though, and after featuring in Rangers’ last seven matches, he’s now ready to pull on the Super Eagles jersey once again.
Aribo has been blown away by the support the squad are receiving and says he is looking to make a big impact across the games.
“I’m enjoying it here in Benin [City],” he said, as quoted by Goal.com. It’s very overwhelming and I’m happy to see that the fans are here with us and they’re supporting us so it’s a good feeling.”
“I bring energy, I want to play fast and just make it hard for my opponent and win the game, of course.”
“Hopefully by God’s grace, that’s the aim, I want to score goals every single game I play but I want to just do all I can for the team to get the result that we can get”.
Rangers star Joe Aribo eyes goals on Nigeria duty – Verdict
Aribo was knocked off his stride by injury following a very promising start to the campaign, but he’s slotted back into the Rangers team recently and will almost certainly start for Nigeria in the first AFCON Qualifier against Sierra Leone on Friday.
The former Charlton midfielder is still relatively new to international football and hasn’t represented his country for a year, but he earned rave reviews for his performances in 2019.
Aribo netted on debut against Ukraine and then scored a brilliant solo goal against Brazil, so he knows he can produce on the big stage.
The Super Eagles are currently top of Group L, with six points from two games, and should take a further half dozen from this double-header, given that they (32nd) are 88 places above their opponents (120th) in the FIFA World Rankings.
