Mikel Obi pulls out of Nigeria/Poland friendly after being unable to secure a Polish visa

SUPER Eagles skipper Mikel Obi has pulled out of Friday's friendly match against Poland taking place in Wroclaw due to his inability to sort out his work permit issues that will make him eligible for the game.

Currently playing in China with Tianjin Teda, Mikel had been expected to lead the Eagles against the Poles but he has been unable to get a Polish visa that allow him to travel to the country. This will mean that Mikel will now miss the game, bringing to three the number of Eagles who have pulled out of the match after Oghenekaro Etebo and Junior Ajayi also withdrew with Etebo facing fitness issues and Ajayi also having visa worries.

According to Super Eagles team administrator Dayo Achor, Mikel took his visa for renewal but the renewal did not go as planned and due to the delays he will miss the game against Poland. However, Mikel is expected to play in the game against Serbia in England on March 27 at Barnet's The Hive Stadium, in north London.

Mr Achor said: “We all had been hoping that the renewal would come in good time for him to fly to Poland. As it is now, it is not likely that he would make the trip.”

At the moment, the team, that almost has a full complement of players, is camped in Poland where the Eagles are training ahead of the game. Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr invited 28 players for the game and by the end of today, all of the 15 except the three who pulled out are expected to be in camp.

Team handlers are particularly impressed with Deportivo La Coruna goalkeeper Francis Uzoho, who now looks set to make the number one jersey his. Apparently, the Eagles' goalkeeper trainer was visibly excited with Uzoho’s performance during training and praised the youngster for his ball handling abilities, which were suspect the first time he trained with the team last year.

Uzoho also looked very fit and agile during the drills, many thanks to the fact that he has now established himself as the undisputed first choice of Deportivo La Coruna B who are campaigning in the third division of Spanish football league. Uzoho kept goal in the last five games for the promotion-chasing team and is expected to move on to bigger things at the end of the season.