The list of invited players for the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the friendly game against Algeria was made public by the coach of the Nigerian team Jose Peseiro on Saturday.
One name that was missing from the list is that of Southampton midfielder Joe Aribo who was a part of the squad for the first two competitive games of the new coach of the team.
His non inclusion made us sought to know why considering the fact that he is by far one of the most consistent player in the team owing to the fact that he is getting regular run of games at Southampton.
Reacting to why he isn’t in the squad, a member of the technical crew said it was a decision agreed upon with Aribo as he needed to rest after the huge amount of games he has played the past one year.
As a matter of fact ,he played over 70 games last season, a number which no other footballer had last year. He will use the international break to rest and should be back in the Nigerian team for the November friendly game against Portugal.
Meanwhile, feelers from people close to Peseiro has it that the Portuguese coach isn’t favourable disposed to the idea of having Wilfred Nididi play as the defensive midfielder of the team.
Peseiro always set out his team to attack and he feels Ndidi’s passing range could slow the transition from midfield to attack, hence is considering playing him as a centre back alongside Calvin Bassey.
