Fulham defender Calvin Bassey withdraws from Nigeria squad after picking up injury

[p]The defender was expected to anchor the Super Eagles’ backline during the four-nation invitational tournament billed for Antalya, Turkey.[/p][p]According to the social media post by the Nigeria national team, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bassey-calvin/faJVc0Mk/"]Bassey[/a] has withdrawn from the squad due to a back injury.[/p][embed guid="555f3c81-696f-4dde-9fc4-c993f5f472bf" url="https://x.com/NGSuperEagles/status/2036812884454338881" social-type="twitter" /][p]“[b]Calvin Bassey has withdrawn from the Nigeria national football team squad for the upcoming friendlies against Iran and Jordan due to a back injury. Wishing you a speedy recovery, CB[/b],” the post on X read.[/p][p]While the extent of the injury was not stated, the three-time African champions will prosecute the matches with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ajayi-semi/2qbYQ9um/"]Semi Ajayi[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chukwueze-samuel/niW1cP0k/"]Bright Osayi-Samuel[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/onyemaechi-sopuruchukwu-bruno/xjMcnc2e/"]Bruno Onyemaechi[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zaidu/Wr0Iog1G/"]Zaidu Sanusi[/a], Igoh Ogbu and first-time invitee [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fernandez-emmanuel/KWRglvco/"]Emmanuel Fernandez[/a].[/p][p]Bassey’s injury might be a setback to his Premier League outfit’s quest to seal a place in Europe at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.[/p][p]The Cottagers are ninth in the English top-flight table, having accrued 44 points from 31 outings so far, with the Nigeria international making 23 appearances with a goal to his credit.[/p][embed guid="a8dbb4fd-4c17-498b-982a-2c1a3168db56" url="https://x.com/NGSuperEagles/status/2036845673283211339" social-type="twitter" /][p]Meanwhile, captain Wilfred Ndidi was the last player to arrive at the team’s camp as the whole squad trained together ahead of the first match.[/p][p]According to the tournament schedule, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chelle-eric/vFeFaT0s/"]Eric Chelle[/a]’s men will open their campaign against World Cup-bound Iran on March 27th.[/p][p]Four days later, they square up against Jordan, while Iran will play its second match against Costa Rica.[/p][h2][b]Nigeria Squad[/b][/h2][p][b]Goalkeepers:[/b] Maduka Okoye (Udinese FC, Italy); [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/adeleye-adebayo/SG7HyXGN/"]Adeleye Adebayo[/a] (Volos FC, Greece); [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/uzoho-francis/pYft7bNo/"]Francis Uzoho[/a] (Omonia FC, Cyprus)[/p][p][b]Defenders:[/b] Oluwasemilogo Ajayi (Hull City, England); Bright Osayi-Samuel (Birmingham City, England); Bruno Onyemaechi (Olympiakos, Greece); Zaidu Sanusi (FC Porto, Portugal); Igoh Ogbu (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic); Emmanuel Fernandez (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland)[/p][p][b]Midfielders: [/b]Alex Iwobi ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham FC[/a], England); Frank Onyeka (Coventry FC, England); Wilfred Ndidi (Besiktas FC, Turkey); Raphael Onyedika (Club Brugge, Belgium); [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dele-bashiru-fisayo/AF8BqWgI/"]Fisayo Dele-Bashiru[/a] (SS Lazio, Italy)[/p][p][b]Forwards: [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lookman-ademola/8QK1SO5g/"]Ademola Lookman[/a] (Atletico Madrid, Spain); Samuel Chukwueze (Fulham FC, England); Simon Moses (Paris FC, France); [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ejuke-chidera/8zvngfOe/"]Chidera Ejuke[/a] (Sevilla FC, Spain); Paul Onuachu (Trabzonspor AS, Turkey); Akor Adams (Sevilla FC, Spain); Philip Otele (Hamburger SV, Germany); Collins Yira Sor (KRC Genk, Belgium)[/p][image alt="Shina Oludare" id="77f4edee-493b-45e2-b24b-0d9a1e05766a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="8d46c7e3-0b6d-40eb-a501-6479a36154eb" original-width="1200" original-height="381" /]