Super Eagles of Nigeria will clash with CONCACAF Gold Cup holders Mexico in a friendly at the famous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the State of California, the United States of America on Saturday, 3rd July.
Ademola Olajire, the Director of Communication of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), in a statement on Wednesday, said the match would hold at the Memorial Coliseum in the State of California, U.S.
He added that the match, which would kick off at 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles time, would be the sixth confrontation between the senior teams of both countries.
NFF’s FIFA Match Agent, Jairo Pachon of Eurodata Sport, said, “We are happy to be able to announce this match, which is a clash between two very big teams from two different continents. Mexico against Nigeria is a big match any day and the venue is class.”
The encounter will be the sixth confrontation between the senior teams of both countries, four of which have ended in draws. The only win in the series has gone to Mexico, when they trumped a US Gold Cup encounter in Dallas (State of Texas) 2-1 on 24th June 1995. Jonathan Akpoborie scored Nigeria’s only goal.
Close-fought confrontations include a 1-1 draw at the FIFA Intercontinental Tournament for the King Fahd Cup (now FIFA Confederations Cup) in Saudi Arabia on 13th January 1995 (Mexico prevailed 5-4 on penalties in the quarter final match), and 0-0 draws in friendly matches in Houston and Atlanta the previous decade. A friendly game in Mexico also ended 2-2.
However, reports suggest the Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr will prosecute the match with home based players as most of the foreign based players will be in the middle of their holidays.