Super Eagles to miss World Cup opening ceremony

The Super Eagles landed in Essentuki on Monday night from their training camp in Austria but unfortunately won’t be at the opening ceremony in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium which will also host the final.

FIFA and Local Organising Committee (LOC) officials conducted arrival meetings with the administrative officials of Super Eagles at their Sanatorium Istochnik Hotel team base camp in Essentuki.

According to Media Officer of the team, Toyin Ibitoye, the public and media, Super Eagles players will have two trainings today at Essentuki. He noted the second training in the evening will be behind closed doors. The team will fly out to Kaliningrad, which is 3 hours away by flight from Essentuki, tomorrow afternoon, almost when the opening ceremony will start.

The training ground in Essentuki is around 1,581 kilometres away from the venue of the opening ceremony in Moscow. They will need to travel almost two hours 30 minutes by air or almost a day if by train.

If they would be at the opening ceremony, the Super Eagles will be 1,254 kilometres from Kaliningrad stadium where they would have their first game.

Eagles opening game of Group D is to hold at the 35,000-capacity Kaliningrad Arena.

The opening ceremony will focus on a series of musical acts, with Robbie Williams headlining. Around 500 dancers, gymnasts and trampolinists will also be performing in an opening extravaganza that will pay homage to all things Russian.