Russia’s head coach, Valery Karpin, has acknowledged that his side faces a stern challenge against Nigeria’s Super Eagles in their upcoming international friendly, despite the absence of star forwards Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.
The much-anticipated encounter is scheduled to take place on Friday at the iconic Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Notably, this will mark the first-ever senior meeting between the two footballing nations.
Karpin, speaking to Komsomolskaya Pravda, dismissed suggestions that Nigeria’s lineup is significantly weakened, insisting that the absence of a few players does not affect Russia’s approach to the game.
“It doesn’t change our preparation at all. Without Osimhen and Lookman, there will be other equally good footballers,” Karpin stated.
He also took aim at narratives circulating in the media, suggesting Nigeria is fielding a second-string squad due to the absence of a few key players.
“Now there are many media outlets, bloggers, internet broadcasts… They write: ‘Nigeria is bringing a second team’ only because two leaders didn’t come,” he said.
Karpin was quick to draw a parallel with his own team, pointing out that Russia, too, will be missing several influential names for the fixture.
“Then we can also say that we are bringing a second team. We don’t have Golovin, we don’t have Zakharyan. Golovin, Zakharyan, Barinov, Diveev were not in the match with Zambia,” he emphasized.
“These are our main players, our stars. Safonov was not there. But no one is talking about this,” the Russian tactician added.
The friendly promises to be a test of depth for both teams as they look to assess their squads ahead of future competitive fixtures.