Injury Cost Nsofor World Cup Shirt, Mba Had Few Tapeworms in His Belly-Keshi

On-loan Chievo Verona striker Victor Obinna Nsofor failed to make the trip to the World Cup in Brazil because of a resurgent knee problem. The forward alongside Sunday Mba, Joel Obi, Chrisantus Ejike Uzoenyi, Daniel Akpeyi, Nnamdi Oduamadi and Nosa Igiebor completes names of seven players excluded from the Super Eagles squad ahead of its fifth appearance on the biggest stage in world football. “Nsofor (has) a little bit of knee problem, but he was still pushing,” Keshi explained to AfricanFootball.com.

The CSKA Moscow supporting striker, 27, whose beautiful free-kick against Ethiopia in Calabar sealed the 2014 World Cup berth for Nigeria in November, suffered a relapse of his “cruciate knee problem” prior to the friendly encounter against Scotland last week. He would later sit out training on Thursday and Friday, after scans were conducted to determine the extent of the injury and returned with the rest of the squad in Philadelphia, USA, on Saturday. The Beijing 2008 silver medalist will now wait to improve on his 12 goals in 47 international caps. Anther notable exclusion from the team’s final list Obi was also a victim of injury, according to the coach, while the scorer of Afcon 2013-winning goal Mba lacked the necessary bite and push, despite joining the team late in London due to visa hitches. “Joel (has) a little bit of ankle problem, but he was still trying,” added Keshi. “I just didn’t want to risk it. “But I am happy I spent a little time with him. “For Sunday Mba, his lateness to camp contributed but outside that he did not show hunger, the fight, we expected from him. “We had only two and a half weeks to prepare for the World Cup and he was not giving us what we wanted. He was very relaxed and it was unlike him.” Nigeria face Greece in the second of their three warm-up matches at the Philadelphia Union Stadium later in the day. The Eagles will face Iran (June 16), Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 21) and Argentina (June 25) in Group F of the World Cup.