Head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Eric Chelle will not include six players who were part of his inaugural squad in his soon to be released list of players for the unity friendly tournament in England, OwnGoalNigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
The coach called up 23 players for the world cup qualifiers games against Rwanda and Zimbabwe respectively, but will be making some changes to the squad that secured a 2-0 win away in Kigali before suffering a late disappointment to draw 1-1 in Uyo four days later.
We can exclusively reveal that six players who were part of the team won’t be in the frame for a call up this time around after failing to impress the coach , who will use the tournament to try out new players and also certain players in his preferred diamond formation.
Central defence duo of Jordan Torunarigha and Igho Ogbu won’t be involved this time around and it is the same for Remo Stars goalkeeper Kayode Bankole. There will also be no space for Alhassan Yusuf of MLS side New England Revolution.
In attack Victor Boniface will be the biggest casualty with the coach coming under increasing pressure to drop the Bayer Leverkusen forward, who has failed to raise his game in the colors of the team.
Joe Aribo will also not be involved this time around after failing to get a minute in the two games played in the world cup qualifiers, there are also concerns over Samuel Chukwueze keeping his spot in the team owing to his unimpressive performance in the world cup qualifiers.
We gathered the six new players will be picked from a poll of eight that includes Getafe midfielder Uche Chrisantus, Lazio’s Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Augsburg Frank Onyeka, Nathan Tella of Bayer Leverkusen, Gabe Osho of French Ligue 1 side Auxerre.
Others include Werder Bremen defender Felix Agu and Maduka Okoye of Serie A side Udinese. Leon Balogun is also said to be on the list of possible additions with the coach keen on adding experience to his defence.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
