Nigeria officials are disputing claims by English club Wolverhampton Wanderers that a hip injury has ruled out the nation’s first choice goalie, Carl Ikeme, from a must-win World Cup qualifier against Algeria and they are now insisting on a second opinion.
Nigeria welcomes Algeria to Uyo on November 12 and has vowed to leave no stone un-turned in ensuring a win, in order to consolidate her place at the top of the log and in view of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
This week, Wolves contacted the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to say Ikeme would not be available for the qualifier, due to the injury.
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Officials are still miffed that the Premier League clubs of Victor Moses (Chelsea) and Isaac Success (Watford) deliberately blocked the players from last month’s clash in Zambia, using injury as an excuse.
“The officials wish to ascertain the severity the injury Ikeme suffered at a league game over the weekend.
“They still believe that Victor Moses and Isaac Success were stopped from the last World Cup qualifier by their English clubs,”a source within the NFF was quoted to have said.
Ikeme’s absence is a major blow for Nigeria, as he has established himself as the country’s No.1 goalkeeper, since his brilliant debut in a 2017 AFCON qualifier in Tanzania in September 2015.
