One name that was missing in the Super Eagles list made public by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday was that of Nottingham Forest defender Ola Aina.
Aina wasn’t named in the squad for the upcoming Unity Cup in London, and also the high profile friendly games against Poland and Portugal respectively, which has all of the regulars.
He missed the AFCON in January due to an injury he picked up during the world cup qualifiers game away to South Africa. He hasn’t played for the team since that game not even in friendly games.
His omission led to talks that he has been exiled from the team, in the wake of reports saying he confronted the president of the NFF Ibrahim Musa Gusua after the game against South Africa, where he picked up the injury.
We gathered he expressed his frustration at the poor nature of the playing surface, and the reluctance of the football house to contest why the game was moved to a poor pitch.
However that is not why he wasn’t in the list, and we can exclusively reveal that he was left out because he is presently injured and hasn’t played a game in over a month.
This season he has played just 18 games in the league, and his return date is presently not known, hence the decision to leave him out of the team while he focus on his recovery and rehabilitation.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
