Plane carrying Nigeria team forced into emergency landing after malfunction

NIGERIA'S football team was forced to make an emergency landing ahead of a make-or-break World Cup qualifier due to a CRACKED windscreen.

The Super Eagles are due to play the Benin Republic in a must-win World Cup qualifying game in Uyo on Tuesday.

2 Nigeria's plane was forced into an emergency landing ahead of a crunch World Cup qualifier Credit: AFP

2 A cracked windscreen forced the pilot to initiate emergency procedures Credit: channelstv.com

However, a malfunction on the plane carrying the team on their way home following a 2-1 win over Lesotho forced them into an emergency landing.

The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) confirmed a loud crack appeared on the aircraft’s windshield about 25 minutes after takeoff from Luanda, Angola, where they had made a routine refuelling stop.

This prompted the pilot of the chartered ValueJet Airline aircraft to initiate emergency procedures and return to the airport.

The same aircraft had also flown members of the delegation to Polokwane on Thursday night before arriving in the South African city ahead of the crunch Lesotho qualifier on Friday morning.

Players involved in the Nigeria squad for October qualifiers include Premier League stars Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi, Frank Onyeka and Samuel Chukwueze, as well as superstars Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman.

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