It was good and the not too good news on Monday morning when the national team; Super Eagles resumed training for the October 13 duel against the Lone Star of Liberia in Calabar.
As expected all the players invited save for the Sunshine Stars duo of Izu Azuka and Solomon Kwambe, beat the Sunday evening deadline and were part of the training session at the training pitch of the Abuja National Stadium. “They have special permission to stay away for now”, declared Head Coach, StephenKeshi of the Sunshine Stars duo, who are preparing to host Egyptian giants, Al Ahly Nationale this weekend in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
The not too good news however is that midfield ace, Gabriel Reuben and his Kano Pillars teammate, Papa Idris, have yet to recover well enough to be part of the team that will confront Liberia on October 13. Reuben suffered a groin injury during the finals of the Federations Cup in Lagos, while Idris has been battling a nagging knee injury, which has slowed down the usually pacy central defender.
After Monday morning’s training, Keshi and his crew had a lengthy meeting after which it was decided that the two players should be excused, going by the crucial nature of the game at hand. They have since left camp and would be replaced by Heartland’s Kalu Orji and Stanley Okoronkwo of Sharks FC of Port Harcourt. “It was a painful decision to let the two players go, but we have to look at the future of the players and the fact that we will need the two of them at the South Africa 2013 Nations Cup, that is why we have said we should give them more time to go and get themselves healed. After the game against Liberia, they should be back in the team”, Head Coach Stephen Keshi explained.
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