On Monday this week, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) submitted the provisional squad list of the Super Eagles that will represent Nigeria at the World Cup Finals in Russia next month to FIFA.
The list will be whittled down to 23 after a series of friendly games and training sessions would have given the Super Eagles coach, Gernot Rohr, a fair idea the best players fit and good enough to perform well at the world cup.
The list as expected included the usual suspects such as Captain John Obi Mikel, Victor Moses, Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed Musa and Kelechi Iheanacho amongst others.
As usual with provisional squads, a few surprise inclusions and wild cards have made the cut. Players such as Dele Ajiboye who is Plateau United's shot stopper, Junior Lokosa who is the NPFL's top goal scorer with 18 goals for Kano Pillars, Simeon 'Simy' Nwankwo from Italian side Crotone who has been in hot form recently and Stephen Eze a defender who was impressive at CHAN 2018 and now dorns the colours of Lokomotiv Plovdiv in Bulgaria have also been included.
All 4 players will be hoping to impress the coach enough to warrant a spot in the final cut of 23.
While it is good to see deserving home based players given the opportunity to stake a claim to be put on the plane to Russia, the final 23 man shortlist appears predictable and it would take a big and outstanding performance by any of the new faces to persuade Rohr to change his mind and drop an established household name.
Would there be enough minutes on the pitch and time for these players on the fringes to give Rohr a welcome 'selection headache'?
It is not surprising that Gernot Rohr has stuck with mainly the players he used during the World Cup Qualifiers. A squad who were unbeaten in the group of death and had already qualified for the tournament before the last game of the qualifiers.
But with the announcement of the provisional squads by other countries and seeing how strong they are on paper, one begins to wonder if the Super Eagles will be able to reach the minimum requirement which is the last 8. Getting there has proved elusive for Nigeria since our maiden appearance in the USA '94 World Cup.
So, who are the players likely to be left out or at best be put on standby?
Goalkeepers
Francis Uzoho was in goal for the Super Eagles in the last international break and his performance was suspect but appears to be highly regarded by Gernot Rohr.
Ifeanyi Ezenwa from Enyimba stepped up to the plate after Daniel Akpeyi performed poorly in the AFCON qualifiers against South Africa and the world cup qualifiers in the game against Algeria. He gave a good account of himself but showed a weakness when dealing with crosses and making poor judgements like the soft penalty he gave away against Cameroon.
Dele Ajiboye could make a good case to be on the plane if he is given a game during the preparations and performs creditably well. It would mean Akpeyi gets the bullet after appearing to fall out of favour since the shambolic performance in the friendly against Argentina.
Verdict : Akpeyi should get the axe.
Defenders
In the defence, Rohr shortlisted 10 players. Rohr is likely to take 8 to Russia meaning 2 players will be dropped. The central defence looks settled barring any injuries to the duo of Ekong and Balogun. This means Omeruo and Awaziem are likely going to be cover for the first choice centre backs.
The full back positions though seem a tricky one. Shehu seems nailed on to start at right back. Ebuehi and Aina appear to be jostling for the second choice. Aina however has filled in at Left back in the past as well and will be competing with Idowu and Elderson. This is where it gets interesting.
Elderson has been poor for the Super Eagles especially going forward. His passing is wayward and his crosses aren't good enough at this level. He hasn't played for Nigeria since the Zambia game. Idowu on the other hand was impressive on his debut and scored a goal against Argentina.
Would Rohr stick with experience or will he go for versatility and inventiveness? The only thing going for Elderson is that he is the only left footer in that defence.
Verdict : Eze and Elderson likely to be dropped.
Midfielders
In this department, many of the players here are untouchables and barring injuries only the fringe players like Joel Obi, John Ogu or Uche Agbo are likely to drop out.
Mikel Agu, even though he has been poor in a Super Eagles shirt appears to be in the good books of Rohr. The reason is not far fetched. He has been a consistent performer at club level. He has however failed to transmit that form while in an Eagles' shirt. Will the world cup provide him that platform? Stranger things have happened.
Verdict: barring a performance of outstanding quality in friendlies Joel Obi is likely to miss out due to his poor performance against Serbia. Agbo should join him by virtue of his status and for never really impressing.
Forwards
The attacking players like the midfield is filled with the spine of the team. Full of experience, youth and energy.
Which makes the arrival of Junior Lokosa and Simy into the frey one that has come too soon.
It has to be mentioned though that if Ighalo continues to be wasteful in the friendlies then one of these fringe players should be taken to Russia as a wild card if Rohr sees potential in any.
Verdict: Lokosa and Simy likely to join those to be axed from the team unless of course there is an outstanding performance during friendlies.
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