Eagles in last minute war for shirts

• Keshi keeps list close to chest
All 23 members of the national team were in
full flight at the UJ Esuene Stadium, Calabar on
Thursday evening despite a downpour, with no
one sure of which of them will be on the start
list on Saturday in the World Cup qualifier
against Malawi.
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 crowd who
came to catch a glimpse of the African
champions were NFF Security Committee
member, 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.