Brazil’s national football team assistant coach, Cleber Xavier says Nigeria’s Super Eagles forward, Alex Iwobi is the man to watch out for when his team faces Nigeria in an international friendly match the National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore on Sunday.
The two sides will be meeting for the second time ever, having previously played against each other in 2003 when Brazil won 3-0 in Abuja.
Nigeria arrived in Singapore with in-form forwards, Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis of Club Brugge and Lille’s Victor Osimhen, but Tite’s assistant coach Xavier has picked Iwobi as Nigeria’s danger man.
“At Nigeria, Iwobi plays more of an inside role as a second striker than at Everton,” Xavier told BBC Sport.
“He is the link in the counter-attack, drags opponents out of position and infiltrates well in the box.”
Before playing the Super Eagles, Brazil will first clash with Senegal on Thursday.
Xavier feels Nigeria and Senegal provide the challenge they need to prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign.
“Nigeria defend less than Senegal. The Senegalese are more about positioning with [Idrissa] Gueye marking strongly,” he added.
“These two friendlies and the two November friendlies will allow us to test new players and to adjust and tweak some tactical details in attack and defence.
“We did this in the preparation for the Copa America. We succeeded in the objective of winning and did so unbeaten.”
For Nigeria and Senegal, they will be preparing for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers which begin in November.
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