The Nigeria U20 team suffered a huge setback ahead of their trip to Togo for the WAFU U20 tournament, which is the qualifiers for the U20 AFCON.
Nigeria head into the tournament as defending champions with a new coach in Aliyu Zubairu. They are in the same group with Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire.
They will open their campaign on Friday against Burkina Faso without mercurial midfielder Daniel Daga who opt out of the tournament in favour of a deal with Norwegian side Molde.
Daga was expected to play a leading role for Nigeria at the tournament, after distinguishing himself for the last U20 team at the world cup in Argentina. He was expected to be one of the leaders of the team but he refused to submit his passport because of his proposed trip to Norway.
His decision left the technical crew stunned as they have built the team around him as the key man in the middle. They had to replace him two days ago with Niger Tornadoes midfielder Sabiu Ibrahim from the final list of players for the tournament.
Below is the list as submitted by the coach.
Goalkeeper: Nathaniel Nwosu (Nasarawa United), Harcourt Ebenezer (Sporting Lagos)
Defenders: Adamu Maigari (El Kanemi) Daniel Bamayi (Bayelsa United), Musa Adamu (Wireless), Haruna Aliyu (Doma United), Kenneth Igboke (Enugu Rangers)
Midfielders: Raphael Oyebanjo (Shuffle), Nasiru Salihu (El Kanemi), Muhammad Sabiu Ibrahim (Niger Tornadoes), Oliseh Divine (Academy), Israel Ayuma (NK Istra/Croatia), Ibrahim Abdullahi (Bayelsa United), Suleyman Alabi (El Kanemi)
Forwards: Alonge Ibrahim (Academy), Kparabo Arieri (Beyond Limits), Clinton Jephta (Enyimba), Charles Agada (QPR/England), Bidemi Amole, Musa Akinfenwa (Real Sapphire)
