*As Keshi keeps list close to chest
All 23 members of the Super Eagles team invited for the crucial 2014 World Cup qualifiers against Malawi were in full flight at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar on Thursday evening despite a down pour, with no one sure of which of them will be on the start list on Saturday in the World Cup qualifier against The Flames.
Nnamdi Oduamadi and John Ogu were the last two players to arrive and they showed no sign of let up at the wet pitch of the Calabar’s prime sports arena. Among the crowed who came to catch a glimpse of the African champions were NFF Security Committee, Effiong Johnson, who discussed at will security issues with State’s Sports Commissioner, Hon Patrick Ugbe and FIFA Security chief in Nigeria ACP Gideon Akinsola.
There was also NFF Marketing Committee boss, Deji Tinubu, who has been trying to market Nigerian football on the world wide web and several officials too numerous to mention.
At the training proper, which was the first full house ahead of the game against Malawi, Mandela Challenge hero, Uche Nwafor was splendid, so was Emmanuel Emenike, Brown Ideye, Victor Moses, Obinna Nosfor, Ahmed Musa and Shola Ameobi. When asked about his selection concerns, Head Coach, Stephen Keshi simply said he will pick only the best players and that will win for him on match day.
Fans at the stadium took nearly half of the arena in frenzy of their national team heroes and even after training they invaded the pitch in a desperation to catch a glimpse of their stars, which did not quite go down well with the security men on ground in Calabar. “We will get over situation before Saturday, because I am working in tandem with the Eagles Chief Security Officer, CSP Baba Nara”, declared ACP Akinsola on Thursday evening.
