The senior national team of Nigeria have started training ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Sierra Leone in Monrovia on Sunday, 18 June at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium, the adopted home ground of the Lone Stars.
One player who was missing from the list of 23 players called up by the coach is the top scorer in the English Championship Chuba Akpom. The 27 year old ended the season with the award of the top scorer in the division after scoring 28 goals and he was also voted the best player in the division.
He was said to be an obvious candidate for the team against Sierra Leone, which would have been his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria since his switch of nationality was approved by world football governing body FIFA.
That wasn’t the case as he was once again not listed for the game meaning he will have to wait a little longer for his first call up to the senior national team of Nigeria. OwnGoalNigeria.com sought to know the reason behind his omission.
” This time around, it is passport related because his Nigerian passport has expired. He is yet to renew it and that is why he wasn’t called up. From what I know he was in the list of players until it was discovered that his Nigerian passport isn’t valid. Hopefully he will be in the next squad”, a team source told OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Damian Waziri
