Super Eagles assistant coach, Sylvanus Okpala has said the April 12 international friendly between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and the Pharaohs of Egypt will be a perfect test for the home-based players and the Coach Stephen Keshi-led technical crew as they continue the build up to the second leg Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Rwanda.

Speaking with Sports Vanguard on the friendly which was at the instance of the Egyptian FA, Okpala said, “it will be a good test for the players. It will help in building confidence in the players and give them the desired exposure to prepare them for future challenges.”

Nigeria and Egypt were two of the high profile absentees in the last Africa Cup of Nations tournament co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. A first time champion emerged in the Chipolopolo of Zambia.

Since failing to qualify for the 2012 Afcon, the Pharaohs have gone far in their ‘transformation’ process. This was evident in the changes noticed during the last stages of the 2012 Afcon qualifiers where their U-23 squad prosecuted the matches between Benin and Niger.

Okpala said, “You know that for the past three years, the Pharaohs have been undergoing a gradual change. The older players have been dropped and younger ones injected into the team. They have been playing together, rebuilding. But we won’t be intimidated; we need tests like this.”

Nigeria, like Egypt sacked their coach,  Samson Siasia. Stephen Keshi started with a more generous consideration for the home based players. . The team is looking new as some players got their first international cap in a 2013 Afcon qualifier against Rwanda in Kigali.  The new faces in the team that played Rwanda raised the bar so high that it’s no longer business as usual for the foreign based players.

“We will continue to give more players the opportunity to play for their country. Once you are good you will make the team. Some of them who played Angola are no longer there because they have already been tested. Expect more new faces as we progress,” Okpala said.

Egypt also appointed former US national team coach Bradley as Pharaohs’ coach. He too will use the match as a tune up ahead of both the 2013 Afcon and 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

The last time the two countries met was at the 2010 afcon in Angola where the Pharaohs ran away with a 3-1 victory.