NIGERIA’S U-23 head coach, Samson Siasia plans to take Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi, Watford striker Odion Ighalo and Ahmed Musa from CSKA Moscow to the Rio Olympics as the three overage players in the team, AfricanFootball.com can exclusively reveal.
The trio are the only overage players on the 60-man provisional list said to have been submitted by Siasia to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), for the Games scheduled to hold in August this year in Brazil.
This means the dreams of Lazio midfielder Ogenyi Onazi to feature at Rio 2016 might have been dashed.
The quadrennial Games allow for three players who are beyond the eligible age of 23 to feature.
Siasia himself reasoned Mikel is keen on playing at Rio after he missed out on Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The former Flying Eagles coach has not hidden his admiration for 26-year-old Ighalo, who he made captain for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.
Siasia has also praised the striker’s form in front of goal even though he has struggled to score in recent weeks now for his club in England and country.
Musa though remains a surprise choice on the 60-man list, after he relinquished the Super Eagles captaincy in March, to Mikel before the AFCON qualifier against Egypt in Kaduna.
The CSKA Moscow winger, Musa looks set to quit the Russian club in the summer with the English Premier League a likely destination.
Musa, it will be recalled, played at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as well as the 2011 U-20 World Cup.
Nigeria, whose Olympic team is better known as the Dream Team VI, is drawn in group B alongside Japan, Colombia and Sweden at Rio 2016 which begins on August 4.
Credit- Tribune
No comments:
Post a Comment