Brazil 2014: NFF, Keshi meet on team list

Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi

The Nigeria Football Federation members and the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, are scheduled to meet in Abuja today (Tuesday) over the list of players invited for the final camping on the road to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

A member of the Technical Committee of the NFF Mr. Paul Bassey confirmed to The PUNCH on Monday that the meeting would go on as planned.

He said, “There’s no contrary memo to that effect and so the meeting should hold as planned. We are already on way to Abuja.”

The meeting with the committee is to afford Keshi the opportunity to defend the list of players he has drawn up for the camp. The meeting was first fixed for March 25 but was eventually postponed when the coach who had travelled out of the country told the Federation that he could not get a flight back from the USA early enough for the schedule. The NFF members became furious when Keshi eventually attended a media programme in Lagos on the said date after forcing them to postpone the meeting. The Eagles coach got a query afterwards from the federation.

There have been speculations on the number of players being called up for the final stage of camping before the World Cup starts June 12 in Brazil. A number of names have also been publicised as making the list which the NFF and the coach have denied.

Osaze Odemwingie and Ikechukwu Uche have created the biggest debates as followers of the Nigeria team await the list. While Keshi has said publicly that Osaze has apologised to him after the player used different mediums to attack him, the same cannot be said of Uche. Keshi insists that the latter’s indiscipline was more of the tactical type shown on the pitch. Osaze has not played for the Eagles since 2012 while Uche has yet to get another call since winning the African cup with the team in February 2013.

Apart from the two players, fans of the team are also eager to know how many of those playing professionally in Nigeria will scale the hurdle following their popular outing in the Africa Nations Championship in South Africa. The competition’s Most Valuable Player, Ejike Uzoenyi, is tipped to get a place but the same cannot be said of the team goalkeeper Chigozie Agbim who had an average performance.

The squad list will be released after the Abuja meeting.