The Super Eagles, yesterday, had their first training session in Moscow ahead of Friday’s international friendly match against Russia.

The team arrived in Moscow, on Monday, and had their training session with 19 players, including new invitee, Russia-based Olusegun Olakunle of Krasnodor FC, who was drafted into the squad following a spate of withdrawals by some of the players earlier named in the team.

Eighteen of the players arrived on Monday evening in different batches, while two more joined them yesterday morning ahead of yesterday’s opening training session.

The early arrivals were goalkeepers Maduka Okoye and Amas Obasogie, Skipper William Troost-Ekong, Semi Ajayi, Igho Ogbu, Benjamin Fredrick and Bright Osayi-Samuel.

Others were Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Moses Simon, Frank Onyeka, Chrisantus Uche, Isaac Saviour, Raphael Onyedika, Papa Mustapha Daniels, Sikiru Alimi, Ismaila Sadiq, Tolu Arokodare and Victor Boniface.

Bruno Onyemaechi and Olakunle arrived yesterday morning.

The session at the Moskvich Stadium in Moscow was open to fans and journalists for the first 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has assured fans that the players and other Nigerians expected to be at the game are safe despite security concerns and political implications of going ahead with the game raised by some stakeholders.

Some stakeholders had questioned the propriety of playing in Russia, which is at war with Ukraine, especially as the rest of the world seems to be distancing themselves away from the country.

The stakeholders argue that the rest of the world could see Nigeria as supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, especially since the world football governing body, FIFA and European body, UEFA, have banned Russian teams from participating in their competitions.

Reacting to the stakeholders’ concerns, the NFF told a local website, bsnsports.com.ng, that thorough safety assessments were conducted in collaboration with the Russian Embassy in Nigeria before the federation agreed to the game.

“All findings confirmed that Moscow, the match venue, poses no security threat to players, officials, or fans,” the federation said.

The NFF pointed out that Zambia recently played an international friendly against Russia, saying that the game held without incident.

The NFF emphasised that the friendly is strictly a technical engagement, saying: “This is not a diplomatic or ideological alignment. It is a football match. Our priority is the sporting growth of the national team as we prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.”

The NFF also said that the game would provide a valuable test for the Super Eagles, “give new talents international exposure, and fine-tune strategies. Russia is a competitive opponent and playing them offers practical footballing benefits.”