ACTUALITE |
07.01.2002
Nigeria give up on PSG`s Ogbeche for Mali
OTTA, Nigeria,
Nigeria have left out Batholomew Ogbeche for the African Nations Cup in Mali to allow the teenaged forward concentrate on his career at Paris Saint-Germain, team officials told AFP Sunday.
"PSG don`t want to release him (Ogbeche). He is a young player who is making waves. He is also yet to sign a contract. We therefore don`t want to jeopardise his signing one," Nigeria assistant coach Joe Erico told AFP.
Eighteen-year-old Ogbeche broke into the first-team of the top French side this season after a stint with the second team.
The form of the former youth international would then catch the eye of Nigerian selectors, who promptly included him in the 34-man training squad for Mali 2002.
Meanwhile, the `Super Eagles` have intensified preparations for the Nations Cup which kicks off January 19 in Bamako, Mali.
The country`s top stars Austin "Jay Jay" Okocha, Finidi George, Victor Ikpeba and Tijjani Babangida joined the squad Saturday to beat the January 5 arrival deadline set by coach Shaibu Amodu.
Okocha is a PSG clubmate of Ogbeche.
Training has been very competitive as players battle to make the party to Mali. Bari of Italy striker Ndukwu Chukwu picked up a knock Saturday and has been forced to sit out the team`s training.
Officials told AFP that 26 players will make the trip to Cairo for the friendly match against Egypt Tuesday. The team are due Egypt early Tuesday morning.
Amodu said that the England-based pair of Nwankwo Kanu and Celestine Babayaro as well as Yakubu Aiyegbeni from Isreali club Maccabi Haifa and John Utaka, who is based in Egypt, will join the team in Cairo.
However, Amodu said the final 22-man squad will only be named after the team`s final warm-up game against the Ivory Coast in Abidjan on January 12.
Nigeria therefore risk paying a fine of 3,000 dollars to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) if they fail to beat the registration deadline of January 9.
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Hits: 1 | Source:Dailysoccer | |
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