Eagles caretaker coach Samson Siasia 42-man squad list for a double-header against Egypt reflected the current form of Nigeria players, but the likes of Leon Balogun, Brown Ideye and Isaac Success were some worthy omissions with reasons too.

A top member of the NFF technical committee, who pleaded anonymity, spoke specially on these players who should have been there, but are not there.

Here are the reasons Siasia proffered for omitting these players when he defended his list before the committee.

LEON BALOGUN (DEFENDER/MAINZ, GERMANY)

Form guide: Leon is arguably, Nigeria’s most in-form defender in Europe. He has been largely used at right back in the national team, but has been deployed at the heart of Mainz defence in the Bundesliga this season.

He has made 18 appearances for Mainz in all competitions, the last being the 2-1 defeat of Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

His partnership with Stefan Bell in Mainz central defense has been largely the reason the team is in the hunt for a Champions League play-off spot.

Why he is not on the list: Our source said: “We raised this with Siasia but his reason is cogent - You don’t invite players for the fun of it. We agree that he is having a good season but this is Africa and not Europe. You can see how hot the weather is in Abuja. So imagine how it will be in Kaduna when we play Egypt.

“Leon could struggle in those situations. You remember, we had similar problems with Reuben Agboola back in the days.

“This is a crucial match where circumstances beyond the game proper could be decisive, so we need players who will be comfortable within our environment.

“Leon is still part of the team and will be invited for future games, but we had to leave him out for this one.”

ISAAC SUCCESS (STRIKER/GRANADA, SPAIN)

Form guide: Success has been an ever-present in the Granada starting 11 this season. He has played 28 times in all competitions for Granada this season scoring five goals with three assists.

He was on target in Granada’s 2-0 defeat of Sporting Gijon in Spanish La Liga this week.

Naturally a striker, he has been deployed more from the left flank this season.

Why he is not on the list: Our source further explained: “Success was equally mentioned, but the main snag is his goal conversion rate.

“His work rate is commendable but for a striker, he needs to score more goals. Against Egypt, we will need more potent strikers in front of goal. We will need strikers who will take the opportunities when they come.

“He is quite a young chap who will be very useful to the national team in future but such a crucial game might not actually be the right time to blood him. Remember he is yet to make his full international debut.

“In future, it will be interesting to see how he links up with the likes of Ighalo in the attack”.

BROWN IDEYE (STRIKER/OLYMPIACOS, GREECE)

Form guide: Brown played 28 matches in all competitions for Greek champions Olympiacos this season (20 in Greek Super League, 6 in UEFA Champions League and 2 in Europa League).

The last of these performances was against Anderlecht in the Europa league on February 25. On the whole, Olympiacos’s number 99 scored eight goals with one assist.

The move to Olympiacos saw a rejuvenation of his career after the lull at West Bromwich Albion.

Why he is not on the list: Our source; “The idea of having Ideye serve as a foil for Ighalo is appetising. We all know what Troy Deneey does for Ighalo at Watford. He will need such a player in the national team.

“But while you have to note that Brown also has a low goal conversion rate, his usefulness in a 4-4-2 situation cannot be ignored.

“But we have players like Victor Moses returning to the national team.

“Brown should return soon but not for this game. We cannot invite all the players at the same time”.

DELE AJIBOYE (GOALKEEPER/WARRI WOLVES)

Form guide: Dele’s form at Warri Wolves has caught the attention of NPFL observers. Not a few believe he is the most in-form keeper in the domestic scene.

He has started and finished all Wolves four games this season and kept three clean sheets. He was the stand-out keeper at the Super 4 and has kept a below-par Wolves side afloat this season.

Why he is not on the list: Our source; “We invited two foreign-based keepers, Carl Ikeme and Dan Akpeyi. The three home-based keepers who should open the camp are national team ‘keepers at different levels.

“Ajiboye’s form has been noted but you know that the goalkeeping career is a bit more exclusive than the out-field players, the choices are limited.

“I have no doubt that Dele will get his chance after the Egypt games. We have also noted his good form.”

cc:lalasticlala

http://mtnfootball.com/news/616487/Why-Siasia-left-out-Leon-Balogun-Ideye-Success-Official

Good to see my team back on track.

I disagree on isaac being left out, talk of conversion rate, ighalo has been very poor in the national team but good with his club
Sia1 should reconsider isaac cuz of his work rate and stature and the kid should be consider to partner nacho to renact the u-17 days, these chaps are the future of our national team
My prayer is that we lose this matches so we can put our house in order for the next competition else we continue our trial by error football

Siasia's excuses for the exclusion of Leon and Success are not cogent enough.

Success features in the best league in the world "quality-wise" for the worst team in the league and still has 5goals and 3 assists in 25 games for them.
(The Epl which is the most popular, most followed, and most intense league closely follows the la liga as the 2nd best soccer league on earth).

Granada is a low-quality team in the world best football/soccer league but Success' qualities still shines through. It's about time Success got blooded into the Super Eagles. He offers more "quality-wise" than Fanendo Adi and Aminu Umar (who are both good players too).

Well, with the Likes of Kelechi Iheanacho(Attacking Midfield/Forward "hybrid" role), Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Ahmed Musa, and Odion Ighalo, Nigeria hopefully won't lack goals. The quality in our attack is still more than enough for the Egyptians.

Leon has already featured for The Super Eagles in a couple of games under previous coaches Keshi and Oliseh and was excellent every time he put on the Green and white. He's been excellent as Right-back and under Oliseh he showed great leadership in central defence in the game against Cameroun.

He features for Mainz in the Bundesliga (the world's 3rd best league) in "CENTRAL DEFENCE" and has excelled so far. He played all 90mins when his team shocked Bundesliga champions and currrent table toppers, Bayern munich 2-1 in their own backyard (@Allianz Arena in munich).

He's currently Nigeria's finest central defender in Europe (yes he can play as a rightback too). In fact, he's one of Nigeria's most in-form top 5 defenders in Europe adding all "Capped" and "Uncapped" Nigerian players.....

The others are Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa, Turkey on loan from Chelsea FC, England), Chidozie Awaziem (FC Porto, Portugal), Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle, Holland), and William Troost Ekong (Haugesund, Norway on loan from KAA Gent, Belgium).
.........................................................................................


ANYWAY, BREAKING NEWS IS AT LEAST SIASIA HAS HANDED LEON BALOGUN A LATE CALL-UP BRINGING NIGERIA'S FOREIGN PROS FOR THE AFCON DOUBLE-HEADER TO 21.

With the home-based players invited still 22 in number, it's now officially a 43-man squad for the two matches on march 25 and 29.

I like Balogun. He seems to have a lot of pride donning the national colours. It won't surprise me if he personally called Siasia to insist he was ok playing in the Kaduna sun. I know many half castes like him who don't believe anyone is more Nigerian than them.

Rossikk:
I like Balogun. He seems to have a lot of pride donning the national colours. It won't surprise me if he personally called Siasia to insist he was ok playing in the Kaduna sun. I know many half castes like him who don't believe anyone is more Nigerian than them.

ok lalasticlala

TheSuperNerd:
Siasia's excuses for the exclusion of Leon and Success are not cogent enough.

Success features in the best league in the world "quality-wise" for the worst team in the league and still has 5goals and 3 assists in 25 games for them.
(The Epl which is the most popular, most followed, and most intense league closely follows the la liga as the 2nd best soccer league on earth).

Granada is a low-quality team in the world best football/soccer league but Success' qualities still shines through. It's about time Success got blooded into the Super Eagles. He offers more "quality-wise" than Fanendo Adi and Aminu Umar (who are both good players too).

Well, with the Likes of Kelechi Iheanacho(Attacking Midfield/Forward "hybrid" role), Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Ahmed Musa, and Odion Ighalo, Nigeria hopefully won't lack goals. The quality in our attack is still more than enough for the Egyptians.

Leon has already featured for The Super Eagles in a couple of games under previous coaches Keshi and Oliseh and was excellent every time he put on the Green and white. He's been excellent as Right-back and under Oliseh he showed great leadership in central defence in the game against Cameroun.

He features for Mainz in the Bundesliga (the world's 3rd best league) in "CENTRAL DEFENCE" and has excelled so far. He played all 90mins when his team shocked Bundesliga champions and currrent table toppers, Bayern munich 2-1 in their own backyard (@Allianz Arena in munich).

He's currently Nigeria's finest central defender in Europe (yes he can play as a rightback too). In fact, he's one of Nigeria's most in-form top 5 defenders in Europe adding all "Capped" and "Uncapped" Nigerian players.....

The others are Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa, Turkey on loan from Chelsea FC, England), Chidozie Awaziem (FC Porto, Portugal), Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle, Holland), and William Troost Ekong (Haugesund, Norway on loan from KAA Gent, Belgium).
.........................................................................................


ANYWAY, BREAKING NEWS IS AT LEAST SIASIA HAS HANDED LEON BALOGUN A LATE CALL-UP BRINGING NIGERIA'S FOREIGN PROS FOR THE AFCON DOUBLE-HEADER TO 21.

With the home-based players invited still 22 in number, it's now officially a 43-man squad for the two matches on march 25 and 29.

I totally agree with your assessment. you spoke my mind especially on siasia's useless excuses. I believe the leon Balogun initial drop was a mistake and as typical Nigerians, had to defend those actions.
More importantly, I do not agree with the inclusion of fernando Adi, cos i am convinced the mls is a poor league( imagine Drogba scoring hatricks there) especially when we have success isaac.
Lastly, Who is Aminu Umar? And why should 43 players be invited for 2 games. Is it logical considering the type of games ahead??

oloriooko:
I disagree on isaac being left out, talk of conversion rate, ighalo has been very poor in the national team but good with his club
Sia1 should reconsider isaac cuz of his work rate and stature and the kid should be consider to partner nacho to renact the u-17 days, these chaps are the future of our national team
My prayer is that we lose this matches so we can put our house in order for the next competition else we continue our trial by error football

I bind that your prayer. U want us to lose jst to prove a point? I have seen pple like u many times.They are usually :"I pray we lose so dey can sack the coach. I pray we lose so we can go back to d drawing board".

All the ones we lost and the coaches sacked and we went back to drawing board, have we still gotten it right?

Stop this kind of prayer abeg.

TheSuperNerd:
Siasia's excuses for the exclusion of Leon and Success are not cogent enough.

Success features in the best league in the world "quality-wise" for the worst team in the league and still has 5goals and 3 assists in 25 games for them.
(The Epl which is the most popular, most followed, and most intense league closely follows the la liga as the 2nd best soccer league on earth).

Granada is a low-quality team in the world best football/soccer league but Success' qualities still shines through. It's about time Success got blooded into the Super Eagles. He offers more "quality-wise" than Fanendo Adi and Aminu Umar (who are both good players too).

Well, with the Likes of Kelechi Iheanacho(Attacking Midfield/Forward "hybrid" role), Victor Moses, Moses Simon, Ahmed Musa, and Odion Ighalo, Nigeria hopefully won't lack goals. The quality in our attack is still more than enough for the Egyptians.

Leon has already featured for The Super Eagles in a couple of games under previous coaches Keshi and Oliseh and was excellent every time he put on the Green and white. He's been excellent as Right-back and under Oliseh he showed great leadership in central defence in the game against Cameroun.

He features for Mainz in the Bundesliga (the world's 3rd best league) in "CENTRAL DEFENCE" and has excelled so far. He played all 90mins when his team shocked Bundesliga champions and currrent table toppers, Bayern munich 2-1 in their own backyard (@Allianz Arena in munich).

He's currently Nigeria's finest central defender in Europe (yes he can play as a rightback too). In fact, he's one of Nigeria's most in-form top 5 defenders in Europe adding all "Capped" and "Uncapped" Nigerian players.....

The others are Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa, Turkey on loan from Chelsea FC, England), Chidozie Awaziem (FC Porto, Portugal), Kingsley Ehizibue (PEC Zwolle, Holland), and William Troost Ekong (Haugesund, Norway on loan from KAA Gent, Belgium).
.........................................................................................


ANYWAY, BREAKING NEWS IS AT LEAST SIASIA HAS HANDED LEON BALOGUN A LATE CALL-UP BRINGING NIGERIA'S FOREIGN PROS FOR THE AFCON DOUBLE-HEADER TO 21.

With the home-based players invited still 22 in number, it's now officially a 43-man squad for the two matches on march 25 and 29.

I just stumbled at this thread and i saw this caption "The most inform top 5 defenders in Europe adding" Capped" and "Uncapped" players. And i was curious to know who made the list but was disappointed after seeing the list.

I agree with Leon Balogun, Kingsley Ehizibue and Kenneth Omerue but i disagree with the rest on the list. Because there are many players ahead of those you mentioned on the list. Having mentioned Leon Balogun and Kenneth Omerue. Kenneth Otigba should be behind Leon Balogun, with 23 matches played and 1550 minutes of game time. Followed by Abdullahi-shehu who had played 20 matches and had seen 1668 minutes of football this season. Kingsley Ehizibue with 19 matches and 1223 matches and Godfrey Oboabana with 23 matches and 2070 minutes of game time then finally Kenneth Omerue with 17 matches and 1449 minutes on the field of play.

As you can see, they are far ahead of those you mentioned on your list.

1, Leon Balogun
2, Kenneth Otigba
3, Abdullahi-shehu
4, Kingsley Ehizibue
5, Godfrey Oboabana
6, Kenneth Omerue
7, Elderson Echijiele
8, Juwon Oshaniwa
9, E. Ambrose
10, Gbenga Akokoyo
11, Kingsley Madu

"The rest", or just the other 2, like they are plenty others in a top5 list? #smiles

It was just a top5 and 3 out of 5 satisfied you and you were still disappointed. **smh**

Uhmm, "MOST IN-FORM" is the "key term". That's what guided my drawing up of that list.

I didn't make the list to meet anyone's satisfaction as you also have players you always clamor for yourself..... Solanke-guy right? #smiles

I know my list is good based on the title I gave it. I'm not looking at minutes played. I look at Form, Quality (Class) and Potentials. The top5 was based on "Form"

Note: If you check the super Eagles thread few pages back from its current page, you'll see a detailed discourse I had on the topic. As for the players you listed, I also listed most of them in that discourse. So pls, try to be more investigative.

I prefer avoiding arguments these days online. If you're looking for such... Not here Sir. #smiles Ciao.....

forgiveness:


I just stumbled at this thread and i saw this caption "The most inform top 5 defenders in Europe adding" Capped" and "Uncapped" players. And i was curious to know who made the list but was disappointed after seeing the list.

I agree with Leon Balogun, Kingsley Ehizibue and Kenneth Omerue but i disagree with the rest on the list. Because there are many players ahead of those you mentioned on the list. Having mentioned Leon Balogun and Kenneth Omerue. Kenneth Otigba should be behind Leon Balogun, with 23 matches played and 1550 minutes of game time. Followed by Abdullahi-shehu who had played 20 matches and had seen 1668 minutes of football this season. Kingsley Ehizibue with 19 matches and 1223 matches and Godfrey Oboabana with 23 matches and 2070 minutes of game time then finally Kenneth Omerue with 17 matches and 1449 minutes on the field of play.

As you can see, they are far ahead of those you mentioned on your list.

1, Leon Balogun
2, Kenneth Otigba
3, Abdullahi-shehu
4, Kingsley Ehizibue
5, Godfrey Oboabana
6, Kenneth Omerue
7, Elderson Echijiele
8, Juwon Oshaniwa
9, E. Ambrose
10, Gbenga Akokoyo
11, Kingsley Madu

TheSuperNerd:
"The rest", or just the other 2, like they are plenty others in a top5 list? #smiles

It was just a top5 and 3 out of 5 satisfied you and you were still disappointed. **smh**

Uhmm, "MOST IN-FORM" is the "key term". That's what guided my drawing up of that list.

I didn't make the list to meet anyone's satisfaction as you also have players you always clamor for yourself..... Solanke-guy right? #smiles

I know my list is good based on the title I gave it. I'm not looking at minutes played. I look at Form, Quality (Class) and Potentials. The top5 was based on "Form"

Note: If you check the super Eagles thread few pages back from its current page, you'll see a detailed discourse I had on the topic. As for the players you listed, I also listed most of them in that discourse. So pls, try to be more investigative.

I prefer avoiding arguments these days online. If you're looking for such... Not here Sir. #smiles Ciao.....