World Cup list: How Joseph Yobo was dropped, later included

FACTS have emerged on how Super Eagles captain
Joseph Yobo made Nigeria's final list for the FIFA World
Cup which begins in Brazil on Thursday.
The head coach of the national team Stephen Keshi on
Monday released the final list of players that will
represent the country at the Mundial.
Tribunesport was reliably informed by its source who
was in the Philadelphia camp of the team before the
list was made public that "real politics and intrigues"
played a major role before the Fenerbahce of Turkey
defender could make the final list.
The source further disclosed that Yobo's name was
conspicously missing in the list released on Monday
morning, adding that by evening when the final list
was about to be submitted to FIFA, the player's name
had found its way back into the list.
The source who pleaded not to be mentioned told
Tribunesport by phone from America that the technical
crew, headed by Keshi was prevailed upon by top
officials in Nigeria football circles, who insisted that
Yobo must make the list having been serving the
country since 2001.
According to the source, the officials had argued that
Keshi too was in a situation similar to Yobo's 20 years
ago when Nigeria won the African Cup of Nations in
Tunisia, months before the Super Eagles made their
maiden World Cup appearance in USA. The 'Big Boss'
also attended the Mundial that same year with the
Eagles.
Tribunesport recalls that Keshi was not wholly fit for
the 1994 Nations Cup, where he made a cameo
appearance on Nigeria's way to winning the trophy.
"He was reminded of this and was told that he should
realise that Yobo is the longest serving national team
player, and that the only thing left for him was the
2014 World Cup and his desire to take his number of
international matches to 100. Politics played a major
role in his (Yobo's) inclusion in the team because he
did not make the squad initially, but by evening,
when high-level politicking had taken place, his name
had been included," the source said.
It was also disclosed to Tribunesport that some
'senior' players in the team also lobbied for the
inclusion of their captain. The source, however refused
to mention the names of those 'senior' players to
Tribunesport.
Source: Tribune