Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle has handed first time invitation to new defenders in his squad for the world cup qualifiers, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
The coach who will be without one key central defender in Semi Ajayi in what will be his first set of games as coach, when they take on Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively in March has taken a bold step to replacing the 31 year old.
Chelle from what we exclusively gathered has handed a first time invitation to the duo of Igho Ogbu of Czech Republic giants Slavia Prague and Ifeanyi Onyebuchi of Nigeria Premier Football League side Enugu Rangers.
As we first reported Onyebuchi caught the eyes of the coach when he watched their CHAN qualifiers win over Ghana, and also visited the team at their camp in Ikenne, where they were preparing for the CHAN tournament before it was postponed.
Ogbu has been a standout performer this season for his Czech side in the three tournaments they took part in this season. He played 14 games in the league, four in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers and three in the Europa League.
He has missed only six league games this season with five coming when he sustained a nasty head injury, and the other due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Ade Emmanuel
