Chris Maduewesi
Member
In football context,it is one of the most difficult part of a coach's job not to take a football player to a big football tournament,not least the biggest of them all: "The FIFA World Cup."
Surely nobody wants to be in Stephen Keshi's shoes right now,because come Tuesday he would be the proverbial,maybe not relatively the 'playboy' in our first paragraph.
The Super Eagles coach will be making an appearance before the technical committee of the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) to defend his provisional list to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Only 23 players will he take to the World Cup,but Nigeria being blessed with a pool of football talents to draw from,this is not the time for Keshi to be lily-livered.
Keshi has constantly harped on listing the core players that won last year's Nations Cup for Nigeria,at the same time,he has always drummed about tweaking his team with new players.
He also hinted on the possible return of some exiled players back into the fold,those who weren't part of his initial plans.
One thing is certain that hearts are going to be broken,but it is not yet clear which heart would.
However we would take a look at four players who maybe by circumstance would feel that they should be on the plane to Brazil.
Notably,these players can't really be said to be the favoured children of Keshi,having had spats with him,except one who is yet to play under him.
Joseph Yobo:
First player out of the hat. Yobo is motivated by the singular push to become the first Nigerian player to attain 100 caps. He is on that threshold but that ambition looks a tall order unless it changes in the days ahead.
Prior to the 2013 African Nations Cup,Yobo being the skipper of the national team was a mainstay in the Super Eagles team,but after the first game against Burkina Faso,that order changed and he has been on the fringes since.
Young energetic Kenneth Omeruo ensured that the entrants he made in Nigeria's run-in came from the bench.
Some argued that he was systematically being schemed out of the Super Eagles,and he did not help his cause when after he wasn't invited for a friendly in March 2013,he vented his spleen in the press.
Keshi not one to stand for any insurrection from his players,left him out since then till now. After they both mended fences,Keshi agreed that he would help him achieve the 100-games milestone.
People have been clamouring for Yobo's exclusion from the Eagles list,but with the player showing that "there is still life in the old dog" helping Norwich City fight to beat the drop,Keshi could be forced to take him to Brazil.
Only an injury forced him out from the friendly against Mexico in March this year,maybe he is still part of Keshi's plans.
Haruna Lukman
One of the victims of Nigeria's woeful performance at the last World Cup in South Africa,Haruna Lukman has not played for the Super Eagles since 2010.
Lukman a graduate of all the national youth set-up,the former Kano Pillars player was a glimmer of hope for the coach Lars Lagerback side in the Rainbow nation,but unfortunately much was not seen of him as Nigeria crashed out of the group stages at that tournament.
He has not played under Keshi since he took charge of the national team,and many has been clamouring for his invitation.
A box to box central midfielder,Lukman has been in fine form for his Ukrainian club,Dynamo Kyiv.
Only Keshi knows whether he would be a surprise inclusion in the team,just as he was at the last World Cup.
Playing a similar pattern to John Obi Mikel,Lukman would bring invention and stability,if for any reason the Chelsea man is not available.
But not having been invited by Keshi since,he could find it difficult breaking into that team to Brazil.
Ikechukwu Uche
If the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) would solely have their way,Ikechukwu Uche would be on the plane to Brazil with the Super Eagles.
However,rumours abound that Keshi once told the NFF that it is either Uche or him. It emerged that the Villareal man was one of the players used by the NFF,to have a leverage to dispense Keshi(or so we were made to believe)at the 2013 African Nations Cup.
Keshi claimed that Uche is not a team player and that he goes against instructions to do his own wish when he gets into the pitch.
Once the darling and toast of Nigerian fans,it is hard to take that one of the best strikers might not be going to the World Cup.
Ego-play seems to be on vivid display,as Keshi swore that he will never be part of his team. But how can you explain that one of the top scorers in the Spanish La Liga might not be going to the World Cup,because of his coach's inability to forgive him 'whatever' wrong he might have done?
With reports that the NFF wants to foist Uche on Keshi,it is left to be seen if he would budge during their meeting on Tuesday to take him to the World Cup.
Certainly only Emmanuel Emenike can't shoulder the burden of Nigeria's goalscoring problems,Uche might be able to help him out if given the opportunity.
Osaze Odemwingie
Almost everybody seems to agree on this that he should be in the Nigerian team to the 2014 World Cup. Osaze Odemwingie last played for Nigeria in 2012,during a Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda where he reacted angrily to being substituted and since then he has been on an international wilderness.
Didn't help his course either when he skipped a friendly against Venezuela in November 2012,and Keshi left him out of his Nations Cup squad in January 2013,with the striker spitting venom on the social media.
It was seen as a point of no return for Osaze,as it seemed as though he will not reconcile with Keshi,but water has passed under the bridge since and it now appears they have buried their hatchet.
Keshi knows he needs Osaze,and the Stoke City player appears like he has learnt from his mistakes. And with the tone of the coach,it appears that Osaze would be making a return to the team.
If Osaze eventually makes the team,it would no doubt be justified because he seems to have rediscovered his form since joining Stoke City in January.
Not that these four players are cast iron of making the team to Brazil,but they would certainly be the ones to raise hairs when Keshi names his final squad next week before the NFF.
