VICTOR ANICHEBE
ONYEKACHI APAM
TERNA SUSWAN
BASSEY AKPAN
PETER UTAKA
IKE UCHE
BROWN IDEYE

Yobo should thank his stars Apam is injured!

Ike uche. . .really i feel bad 4 him,injury is a bastard!

I woulda dropd yakubu 4 Anichebe

source please?

http://www.mtnfootball.com/live/content.php?Item_ID=30280
Nigeria have named fit-again Chelsea midfielder Mikel John Obi in their final 23-man squad for the World Cup, while they will not take a chance on Real Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche.

Nice defender Onyekachi Apam, who has been nursing a knee problem, was also axed from the party.

Top team official, Emmanuel Attah, confirmed the final squad for the World Cup.

Mikel is recuperating from a knee surgery and only joined up with the rest of the squad Friday morning after he was certified fit by doctors of his London club.

Ikechukwu Uche was joint top scorer in the qualifiers with four goals but has been out of action for seven months following a major knee injury.

The other dropped players are Peter Utaka, Victor Anichebe, Bassey Akpan, Terna Suswan and Brown Ideye.

Nigeria coach, Lars Lagerback, said after his team’s 1-1 draw with Colombia in London on Sunday that Mikel was left out of the World Cup warm-up match so as not to put pressure on his injury.

However, he said Mikel will star in the Super Eagles next test game against fellow World Cup finalists North Korea on June 6 in Johannesburg.

AS Monaco midfielder Lukman Haruna was rewarded for his enterprise and equalising goal against Colombia with a spot in the final party. He will thus feature in three World Cups – FIFA Under-17 World Cup, FIFA Under-20 World Cup and now the senior World Cup.

Lagerback made public his final squad after a meeting with NFF top shots led by president Sani Lulu during which he defended his selection.

The final full squad:

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv/ISR), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda/ISR), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petah Tikva/ISR)

Defenders: Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille/FRA), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes/FRA), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow/RUS), Joseph Yobo (Everton/ENG), Daniel Shittu (Bolton Wanderers/ENG), Ayodele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam/NED), Rabiu Afolabi (SV Salzburg/AUS)

Midfielders: Kalu Uche (Almeria/SPA), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham/ENG), Mikel Obi (Chelsea/ENG), Sani Kaita (Alaniya/RUS), Haruna Lukman (AS Monaco/FRA), Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev/UKR)

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton/ENG), Chinedu Obasi (TSG Hoffenheim/GER), Nwankwo Kanu, John Utaka (Portsmouth/ENG), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg/GER), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga/SPA), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia)

Its all over brilla fm

I would rather take Anichebe than Obasi, and I would rather take Peter Utaka than John Utaka.

So the difference from Amodu's team are:

Adeleye
Afolabi
Haruna
Utaka

Sagamite:

I would rather take Anichebe than Obasi, and I would rather take Peter Utaka than John Utaka.

While I am surprised too that anichebe was dropped. we must not forget that performance during training sessions also form a major part of the input here. Largerback says he has had 7 training sessions with the team. Anichebe did well against saudi, but that might have been a one-off performance.

Sagamite:

So the difference from Amodu's team are:

Adeleye
Afolabi
Haruna
Utaka

A good coach can still take the entire amodu 23-man team and perform much better than he did at ANC.

na_so:


While I am surprised too that anichebe was dropped. we must not forget that performance during training sessions also form a major part of the input here. Largerback says he has had 7 training sessions with the team. Anichebe did well against saudi, but that might have been a one-off performance.

Although I agree with you, you did not rationalise decisions like this when it was Amodu, did you?

i am quite disappointed that Anichebe did not make it and that useless goat called Obasi made it. Apart from that, no big surprises. injuries to Apam and Uche are really bad news but such is life.

why is john utaka on that list?two home based players out.wish them luck

Sagamite:

Although I agree with you, you did not rationalise decisions like this when it was Amodu, did you?

Imagine the useless john utaka making the list ahead of his brother and Anichebe? why take anichebe and p.utaka in the first place? leaving out emerano is another thing i am yet to get over.

the 2 times j.utaka played in the friendlies, he performed woefully and couldn't even make any attack on target.

uche kalu another wastepipe, very inconsistent, does not tussle for any ball, i just don't know what to say, i hope the coach knows how to use his selections to get the desired results we want.

Anichebe must have done sumtin wrong during the training sessions, John Utaka made the squad

honeric01:

Imagine the useless john utaka making the list ahead of his brother and Anichebe? why take anichebe and p.utaka in the first place? leaving out emerano is another thing i am yet to get over.

the 2 times j.utaka played in the friendlies, he performed woefully and couldn't even make any attack on target.

uche kalu another wastepipe, very inconsistent, does not tussle for any ball, i just don't know what to say, i hope the coach knows how to use his selections to get the desired results we want.

If it was Amodu that took Utaka over Anichebe, we would have had an outragefest by a lot of people.

The Utaka I see in EPL is utter useless.

But this is an oyinbo coach so I expect stifled opposition and rationalisation.

I remember clearly saying Amodu was in charge and since we were not in camp, we can never know why he picked Shittu over Adeleye.

Kgdavid:

i am quite disappointed that Anichebe did not make it and that useless goat called Obasi made it. Apart from that, no big surprises. injuries to Apam and Uche are really bad news but such is life.

guy obasi is better dan anichebe!
He is useful on d flanks and in attack!

utaka did not start any of the games so he has not really been given a chance to prove himself during the friendlies but perhaps he impressed in training. peter utaka looks too heavy and the coach already said he wants only one power striker which might also be why Anichebe has been cut out as well. presumably both are deemed inferior to Yakubu which is probably right. im hoping that lagerback will use Utaka on the right flank because Ogbuke is hopeless there and Utaka has proven he can play well there.

Utaka/anichebe/emenaro to be honest they are all much of a muchness jare, average players in my opinion and to be fair to lars at least utaka is capable of producing a moment of magic albeit once every 6 games which the others are not.

tosinaded@:

guy obasi is better dan anichebe!
He is useful on d flanks and in attack!

please this is a bad joke! what exactly does ogbuke contribute? back passes? from a winger in his sixty minutes of play Anichebe created three chances, in his 90 minutes Ogbuke did not create a single one

debest1:

Utaka/anichebe/emenaro to be honest they are all much of a muchness jare, average players in my opinion and to be fair to lars at least utaka is capable of producing a moment of magic albeit once every 6 games which the others are not.

Anichebe is young, fast, tall, powerful, hardworking, committed and full of energy and can use all these to cause trouble. Utaka I will struggle to find any positives at his present state.

I thought the OP was just joking. . . o_O

Ouinculé!

Sagamite:

Anichebe is young, fast, tall, powerful, hardworking, committed and full of energy and can use all these to cause trouble. Utaka I will struggle to find any positives at his present state.

I agree with you on those attributes and to be honest I would have taken him but dont you think at the end of the day those atributes are merely physical and at some point the team would need something more hence the coach's decision to go with utaka who probably lacks all these attributes but at least has it in him to produce a moment of magic,

Sagamite:

If it was Amodu that took Utaka over Anichebe, we would have had an outragefest by a lot of people.

The Utaka I see in EPL is utter useless.

But this is an oyinbo coach so I expect stifled opposition and rationalisation.

I remember clearly saying Amodu was in charge and since we were not in camp, we can never know why he picked Shittu over Adeleye.

see this is the mistake people are making, although i am upset to see Anichebe leave such comparisons as the highlighted are wrong. who says Utaka and Anichebe are similar players? they are extremely diffeent and as such Utaka was not picked over Anichebe. thats like saying Ayila was picked over ideye brown. though both players are attackers one is primarily a centre forward and the other is primarily a winger. tbh i was thinkin along the samelines till i calmed down enough to reason it out.it is unfortunate that we do not have any good wingers and some wemust make do with Ogbuke and Utaka while we have good centre forwards and thus cannot accomodate Anchebe

debest1:

I agree with you on those attributes and to be honest I would have taken him but dont you think at the end of the day those atributes are merely physical and at some point the team would need something more hence the coach's decision to go with utaka who probably lacks all these attributes but at least has it in him to produce a moment of magic,

You are having a laugh!Utaka's good days are long gone.Would ve opted for Anichebe anytime.Such a shame!

Kgdavid:

see this is the mistake people are making, although i am upset to see Anichebe leave such comparisons as the highlighted are wrong. who says Utaka and Anichebe are similar players? they are extremely diffeent and as such Utaka was not picked over Anichebe. thats like saying Ayila was picked over ideye brown. though both players are attackers one is primarily a centre forward and the other is primarily a winger. tbh i was thinkin along the samelines till i calmed down enough to reason it out.it is unfortunate that we do not have any good wingers and some wemust make do with Ogbuke and Utaka while we have good centre forwards and thus cannot accomodate Anchebe

Mistake?

Please tell me what Utaka can do that you cannot get from Odems, Martins, Nsofor and even Obasi?

Now compare those 4 to Anichebe and then explain to me who would have been better in the team as a non-similar player.

^ well he can play on the right flank which martins cannot. i think the strikers are going to be martins, yakubu and nsofor and martins with odemwingie, obasi and utaka being played out wide as wingers. Ogbuke is definitely a useless winger and even a retrogressed utaka is still far better for me.

^ well he can play on the right flank which martins cannot. i think the strikers are going to be martins, yakubu and nsofor and martins with odemwingie, obasi and utaka being played out wide as wingers. Ogbuke is definitely a useless winger and even a retrogressed utaka is still far better for me.

Maybe Anichebe didn't fit into lagerback plans. Anichebe is a good player, But only Lagerback Knows why he left him.

Before the camp started, Lagerback said that he has been watching past matches since 2008, So maybe be he had already studied the players and selected his starting 11 before the camp even started.
Apart from that, the players in this list (except some few additions) Have been playing 2geda since 2008, Meaning he wanted players that are familar with each oda
Anyway lagerback has made his choice.

Kgdavid:

^ well he can play on the right flank which martins cannot. i think the strikers are going to be martins, yakubu and nsofor and martins with odemwingie, obasi and utaka being played out wide as wingers. Ogbuke is definitely a useless winger and even a retrogressed utaka is still far better for me.

My question to you was:

Sagamite:

Please tell me what Utaka can do that you cannot get from Odems, Martins, Nsofor and even Obasi?

Now compare those 4 to Anichebe and then explain to me who would have been better in the team as a non-similar player.

So Utaka can play right flanks, and you think Odems, Nsofor or Obasi cannot?

That is all you can dig for Utaka?

Now tell me how many of the strikers can do the things Anichebe can do:

Muscle, Height, Speed, Power (MHSP) and genuinely young, hardworking, committed and full of energy.

You still think Anichebe would not be the one that will bring a unique different option from all the other strikers?

The coach has made his choice; lets all see what the team does against North Korea.

Only those who did not watch the Olympics or have never watched TSG Hoffenein will call Ogbuke useless.

Yes I wish Anichebe made it, but Ogbuke is more skillfull and better technically compared to Anichebe.

Anichebe should have been chosen over some other players like Kalu Uche or Yakubu or Danny Shittu.

Kalu Uche is the worst, he should not even make a 50 man sqaud.

otokx:

The coach has made his choice; lets all see what the team does against North Korea.

No doubt!

I am all for a coach to die by his own decisions. I couldn't care less if Lagerback took the Home Eagles to the WC. As long as they deliver good results and maybe play well (I don't mind win ugly especially when we have mediocre players).

What annoys me is the group that are quick to condemn a black man with a record and performing using useless excuses that their world class coaches also engage in but will excuse or keep mute if a white man does the same.