Tunde Sulaiman
7 October 2008
Lagos — An injury crisis afflicting a club almost 4, 000 kilometres away from Abuja is the reason why midfielder John Mikel Obi will not be part of the action when the Super Eagles tackle the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone this weekend.
The former junior international is a member of the Premiership pacesetting Chelsea, which is currently hit by a massive injury crisis.
And Stamford Bridge officials have pleaded with Nigeria to allow them keep their star, who has been an integral part of the Blues' impressive start to the season with some sterling performances in the holding position in midfield.
Although with World Cup qualifiers taking place this weekend, the request is more to keep Mikel fresh and injury free more than anything else since there is no Premiership action till next weekend.
The plea was made personally by Chelsea boss Filipe Scolari to his Super Eagles counterpart Shaibu Amodu when the Nigerian gaffer met with the Brazilian at Stamford Bridge yesterday,
Amodu, along with some members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board, had travelled to London last week to meet with the Super Eagles players plying their trade in England in order to brief them on the programme for this weekend's Angola/South Africa 2010 qualifier and also iron out whatever differences that existed between both parties in order not to jeopardise the nation's quest to make the finals proper.
However, on getting to England word was sent to the Nigerian hander that Chelsea officials would love to meet with him at Stamford Bridge in company of the player, who was voted the second best star behind Lionel Messi at Holland 2005.
It was during the discussions yesterday that Scolari made a passionate plea to Amodu to allow Chelsea hold to their young Nigerian midfielder since he was virtually the only fit player they had left playing in his role since the long-term injury to Michael Essien, the player who normally plays that position.
Also out for the Blues are Didier Drogba, Deco, Ricardo Cavalho and Joe Coe, who picked an injury after scoring the first goal in Sunday's 2-0 win over Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.
Already the London outfit has landed out of contract former Brazilian international Monera as cover for that vital part of their midfield.
In order to keep a good relationship with the club Amodu is said to have agreed to the request, especially as Scolari also pointed out that since Nigeria had already qualified for the final round the Sierra Leone match was not a must win game.
Confirming the development Eagles secretary Dayo Enebi explained that Chelsea had a good case and it was only proper that they understood their plight.
"Besides it will also ensure that we have a good rapport with them in case of future needs," said the scribe.
Meanwhile, the Super Eagles camp opened yesterday the NICON Luxury Hotel with Amodu replacing the injured Dynamo Kyiv of Ukraine midfielder Kazeem Ayila with 2008 Beijing Olympics sensation, Oluwafemi Ajilore.
Nigeria's opponents the Leone Stars are expected in the country tomorrow.
Sierra Leone has seven points from their five previous games, following wins over Equatorial Guinea and South Africa in Freetown and a draw with the South Africans away. They lost to Equatorial Guinea in Malabo and to Nigeria in Freetown.
Nigeria has beaten South Africa and Equatorial Guinea home and away and also picked all three points in Freetown courtesy of a late goal by Joseph Yobo.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
