Chelsea’s Olaoluwa Aina and Turkey-based midfielder Mikel Agu were omitted as
Nigeria announced their final 23 man squad ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The list released by the Nigeria Football Federation, (NFF), on Sunday has only Simeon Nwankwo as the only surprise inclusion.
Nwankwo, who plays for Crotone, in Serie A, did not feature in Saturday’s 1-2 loss by Nigeria to Italy on Saturday in Wembley and played no part in Nigeria’s qualification games for the World Cup but did enough to impress manager, Gernot Rohr in the 1-1 draw against Congo DR nine days ago in Port Harcourt.
Aina, currently on loan at Hull City, played youth football for England and was only convinced to shift his international allegiance to Nigeria.
Only one home based player, Ikechukwu Ezenwa, is included, which is less than the four who travelled to Brazil in 2014 but an improvement over 2010 when there were no Nigerian based players in the squad.
Commenting on the list, Gernot Rohr, said it was drawn in the best interest of the team.
”We had to put emotion aside. It is hard because everybody deserves to go but we can just name 23. Ola and Mikel Agu are still young and they have the chance to fight for slots in our nearest future engagements.”
However, the duo according to Rohr, will be on standby for any of the 23 who get a injured.
The squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Ikechukwu Ezenwa (Enyimba), Daniel Akpeyi (Chippa United) and Francis Uzoho (Deportivo La Coruna).
Defenders: William Troost-Ekong (Bursaspor), Leon Balogun (Brighton and Hove Albion), Kenneth Omeruo (Kasimpasa), Bryan Idowu (Amkar Perm), Chidozie Awaziem (Nantes), Abdullahi Shehu (Bursaspor), Elderson Echiejile (Cercle Brugge) and Tyronne Ebuehi (Benfica).
Midfielders: John Obi Mikel (Tianjin Teda), Ogenyi Onazi (Trabzonspor), John Ogu (Hapoel Be’er Sheva), Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester City), Oghenekaro Etebo (Las Palmas) and Joel Obi (Torino).
Forwards: Odion Ighalo (Changchun Yatai), Ahmed Musa (CSKA Moscow), Victor Moses (Chelsea), Alex Iwobi (Arsenal), Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City) and Simeon Nwankwo (Crotone).