Nigeria’s Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface indicated on Monday that he will miss this month’s Africa Cup of Nations after suffering a groin injury while training.
The 23-year-old was sidelined for his country’s final warm-up friendly against Guinea on Monday and local media reported that he will be out for up to six weeks.
OGC Nice forward Terem Moffi was announced as the replacement in the Super Eagles squad. The 24-year-old Moffi, who has scored six goals in Ligue 2 this season, was a surprise omission when Nigeria named its squad last month, after he had featured in its two previous outings in November.
“Good luck guys. Wish you guys all the best at afcon @ng_supereagles,” Boniface wrote on his Instagram account.
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He is Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen’s top scorer, netting 10 goals in 16 league games this season.
Boniface made his international debut in October and has since earned four more caps.
His injury comes on top of the recent withdrawal of Nigeria midfielder Wilfred Ndidi who was injured in Leicester City’s 2-0 win at Cardiff City on December 29.
Ndidi’s Leicester team mate Kelechi Iheanacho is also struggling with injury and the striker was still being assessed at Nigeria’s training camp with the expectation that he will be fit for the tournament, which starts on Saturday.
Nigeria open their Cup of Nations campaign with a Group A game against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday before meeting hosts Ivory Coast and then Guinea Bissau.
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