11 March 2011
Super Eagles of Nigeria coach, Samson Siasia, has raised doubts over the availability Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi for the forthcoming Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia in Abuja.
Some media reports suggest Mikel is nursing an injury and he has not featured for his London club for several weeks now.
And Siasia has now disclosed he is not clear on the players status and that was why he called up Italy-based Nwankwo Obiora as cover to the Chelsea ace.
Right now we dont know the condition of Mikel. If Mikel is not going to play, then we can try Obiora in that position. That is why I brought him in, said Siasia.
Mikel has yet to play for the Eagles under Siasia. He stayed away from last months friendly against Sierra Leone so as not to aggravate an injury playing on the synthetic pitch of the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.
However, the Eagles coach is very clear Mikel will play as a ball winner for his team even though he used him as an attacking midfielder at the 2005 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Mikel has been playing defensive midfield and to me if he had the chance to play the last game (against Sierra Leone), that is where he would have played, he said.
You cannot change Mikel now to play in another position because he has been in that position for almost five years now. So, there is no miracle that can change him from going forward any more. So, we will put him where he is playing now and he is doing very well (in that position), I dont see why we have to change him.
Real Zaragoza striker Ikechukwu Uche has been recalled to the national team after two long-term injuries that ruled him out of both last years World Cup and the Nations Cup in Angola.
Siasia announced that Uche will likely get a few minutes run out against Ethiopia on March 27.
We want to encourage him. He is back after one year. It is not that if he comes here we are going to start him. We just want to see if he could actually fit in. If he does, maybe he would come in (later in the game), he said.
The Eagles handler further said he dropped Italy-based central defender Michael Odibe because he was far from impressed with the players output against Sierra Leone.
We gave Odibe the chance but I wasnt impressed. Sometimes when you have a chance like this you need to prove yourself. He didnt play up to expectations. He might have the chance to come back later but for now I dont want to experiment with him, Siasia offered.
I have some players who have played in that position that I have worked with before and that I believe they could do better than what we saw against Sierra Leone.”
Siasia will also leave the door open for both England-based forwards, Victor Moses and Shola Ameobi.
I invited Victor Moses but his manager didnt want him to come. Victor wants to come. If he wants to come and he calls me that he wants to play and he is ready, I will invite him again, he revealed.
Ameobi just came back and he played for his club in the second half of their last game. So, with some matches he would be ready. Ameobi would come. He has been cooperating. He has been a good man. We talk on the phone a lot. He wants to play.
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