Aina, Agu Dropped as Rohr Names Nigeria’s Final 23-man List
The duo of Ola Aina and Mikel Agu missed the cut as Coach Gernot Rohr named Nigeria’s final 23-man list for the World Cup in Russia Sunday morning in London.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) announced the final squad on its Twitter account yesterday.
Joel Obi and Ogenyi Onazi who gave below par performance in Saturday’s friendly with England which Eagles lost 2-1 at the Wembley Stadium were included in the Squad to Russia.
The usual suspects were listed with goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa as the only player from the domestic league in the squad. FC Crotone striker Simeon Nwankwo who made his debut for the Nigerian senior team in the 1- 1 draw
with DR Congo last Monday in Port Harcourt also made the list.
Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who has been a major injury concern was listed along with Russiabased defender Bryan Idowu.
The team flew out of London yesterday to Austria before they head out to Russia for the World Cup on June 11.
Meanwhile, Gernot Rohr has said the biggest positive he took from a 2- 1 defeat to England was that the Super Eagles can thrive in a 3-5-2 formation as against their usual 4- 2- 3- 1 system.
The Eagles used mainly the 4- 2- 3- 1 formation to qualify for Russia 2018, but on Saturday against England it did not work for them in the first half and that forced Rohr to come up with the 3- 5- 2 system.
The tactical change saw a livelier Eagles who pulled a goal back and made it more of a contest against The Three Lions in the second half.
“The most positive is the second half because the team did well, we scored a very nice goal immediately and this organisation ( 3- 5- 2) gave us a lot of satisfaction
“We now have other possibilities tactically and the players who came in did very well especially in midfield, we played football like we want to play. “In the first half we chased the ball. “What we saw in the second half was very positive.”
It was also the 3-5-2 the Eagles played in the second half to beat Argentina 4- 2 in a friendly in November.
UZOHO
FRANCIS Club: Real Deportivo Fabril (Spain) Age: 19 Caps: 5 Strength: Tall and having the experience of facing tough opponents in the Spanish LaLiga Weakness: Lacks composure and good communication with backline ELDERSON
ECHIEJILE
Club: Brugge (Belgium) Age: 30 Caps: 53 Strength: Used to play hard and occasionally joining attack as a wing-back Weakness: Not so sharp anymore. Easily beaten by fast forwards
KENNETH
OMERUO
Club: Kasimpasa (Turkey) Age: 24 Caps: 38 Strength: Used to be very bold and fearless in taking on opposing forwards. Weakness: Gives away balls easily these days.
OGHENEKARO
ETEBO
Club: Las Palmas (Spain) Age: 22 Caps: 13 Strength: Solid in dribble and passes. Showed his capacity when introduced to the England game at the weekend. Weakness: Just coming back from injury.
IWOBI
ALEX Club: Arsenal (England) Age: 22 Caps: 17 Strength: Great creative forward. Takes on opposing defence with confidence and can be lethal. Weakness: When supplies fail to come from the middle, appears lost sometimes.
IGHALO
ODION Club: Yangchun Yatai (China) Age: 28 Caps: 18 Strength: Strong and skillful. Quick and takes risks when necessary Weakness: He needs a support striker who can match his pace. When such is lacking, goes to sleep IKECHUKWU EZENWA Club: Enyimba FC (Nigeria) Age: 29 Caps: 17 Strength: Toughened by baptism during the qualifiers. Good at One-onOne and crosses Weakness: Lacking the big stage experience
EBUEHI
TYRONNE Club: ADO DEN HAAG (Holland) Age: 22 Caps: 5 Strength: Very intelligent defender who showed his stuff against England. Weakness: Difficult to point out beyond the fact that he’s not tall enough for a full back
BALOGUN
LEON Club: Brighton and Hove (England) Age: 29 Caps: 17 Strength: He’s a nightmare to opposing forwards with his height and decent tackling skills. Weakness: Pray for him against silly injuries that tend to slow him down always.
OGU
JOHN Club: Hapoel Be’erSheva (Israel) Age: 30 Caps: 18 Strength: Silent worker most times underrated. Big and strong with good ball control Weakness: Do not have the kind of pace expected in his role
MUSA
AHMED Club: CSKA Moscow (Russia) Age: 25 Caps: 69 Strength: His biggest asset is his pace. Proved that against Argentina at Brazil 2014 with two goals to his credit Weakness: Needs to improve his crosses
SIMON
MOSES Club: KAA Gent (Belgium) Age: 22 Caps: 20 Strength: Plays pacy game from the wing. Showed good stuffs during the qualifying rounds. Weakness: He needs to avoid playing to the gallery
AKPEYI
DANIEL Club: Chippa United (S’Africa) Age: 31 Caps: 7 Strength: Big, strong and having capacity to improve . Weakness: Yet to recover from slips against South Africa and Argentina friendly
IDOWU
BRYAN Club: Amkar Perm (Russia) Age: 26 Caps: 4 Strength: Proved his stuff in his first game for Nigeria against Argentina in Russia last year to be very reliable. Weakness: He still needs to prove he is not weak
OBI
JOHN MIKEL Club: Tianjin Teda (China) Age: 31 Caps: 81 Strength: He’s the most experienced player in this team. Tackles well Weakness: Needs to add creativity to his game to become the missing playmaker in the team
NDIDI
WILFRED Club: Leicester City (England) Age: 21 Caps: 15 Strength: Good as a marker and passes well. Big asset for both country and club Weakness: has been battling hamstring. May play safe to avoid knocks
OBI
JOEL Club: Torino (Italy) Age: 26 Caps: 16 Strength: Was touted to be missing link in the middle with his quality Weakness: Injuries have greatly diminished his qualities. Was below average against England
KELECHI
IHEANACHO
Club: Leicester City (England) Age: 21 Caps: 16 Strength: Has improved on the scoring instinct that stood him out in the Golden Eaglets Class of 2013. Weakness: Lost when played as top striker
ABDULLAHI
Club: Bursaspor (Turkey) Age: 25 Caps: 8 Strength: Defends well with confidence. Strong on the ball Weakness: Can be careless sometimes by giving away ball in the heat of the game
CHIDOZIE
AWAZIEM
Club: FC Nantes (France) Age: 21 Caps: 5 Strength: Good physique as a central defender. Tall, strong and tackles hard. Weakness: Needs to improve his passes.
EKONG
WILLIAM Club: Bursaspor (Turkey) Age: 24 Caps: 19 Strength: Along with Balogun, they are the ‘OyiboWall’. Will be very much in demand in Russia Weakness: I don’t really know of any beyond being careful to avoid cards
ONAZI
OGENYI Club: Trabzonspor (Turkey) Age: 25 Caps: 51 Strength: Used to be very rugged and strong on the ball and executes roles well Weakness: The fire is burning out. Was poor against DR Congo and England
MOSES
VICTOR Club: Chelsea FC (England) Caps: 33 Strength: He’s one of the most talented players in Gernot Rohr’s army to Russia. Lethal in opponent’s goal area. Has added defensive skill as a wing-back in his club