Sports
Mikel, Musa dump Eagles for Yobo testimonial
Super Eagles’ captain, John Mikel Obi and his assistant, Ahmed Musa, have opted to play for former captain Joseph Yobo during his Testimonial Game planned for the Akwa Ibom State capital, Uyo on Friday, May 27th thereby being ruled out of Nigeria friendly matches against Mali and Luxembourg.
Nigeria will play Mali in Rouen on 27th May and then take on Luxembourg in Luxembourg on June 1.
Several Super Eagles players were favourably disposed to play for Yobo who led the team to winning the 2013 AFCON in South Africa and 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Yobo earned 100 caps.
But the Nigeria Football Federation General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, confirmed the decision of the duo in a press statement on Thursday stating that, “The NFF leadership has decided that Mikel (Obi) and (Ahmed) Musa should be excused from the two friendly matches in Europe so that they can honour Joseph Yobo, who is having his testimonial game on the same Friday, 27th May that we are playing Mali in Rouen, France.”
Read also: Int’l stars to storm Port Harcourt for Yobo testimonial
“The two players have been communicated accordingly,”Sanusi added.
He also confirmed that the Testimonial has now been moved from Port Harcourt to the magnificent Akwa Ibom Stadium, Uyo.
Meanwhile, Coach Salisu Yusuf has extended an invitation to Morocco–based midfielder Babatunde Michael, who played for Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, to join the squad for the two friendly matches against Mali and Luxembourg.
Yobo represented Nigeria at both U-20 and senior levels, captaining the Super Eagles at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups and featuring in six Africa Cup of Nations finals. He won a century of caps for the senior team, with his last match being the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 defeat by France in Brasilia in 2014.
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