Leicester City manager, Enzo Maresca has revealed Kelechi Iheanacho is yet to recover from injury.
Iheanacho missed Nigeria’s preparation for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations due to a muscular injury.
Super Eagles head coach, Jose Peseiro announced earlier this week that Iheanacho has recovered from the injury and will link up with his teammates in camp on Saturday.
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Maresca has however debunked the claim and stated that the striker is not match fit.
“Kasey is back and Dennis is back,” Maresca told a press conference ahead of his side’s clash with Coventry City.
“The only ones [out] are Jamie and Kel, still out, both of them.”
31 Comments
I won’t pity this coach by the time Nigerians descended on him heavily due to his stupid decisions.
Instead of him to invite 27 players he invited 25. Now Ihanacho’s availability for the AFCON is not sure.
That guy has said severally that the decision was from NFF. Una no dey read abi wetin
@Godsate, he agreed with the NFF, so he is the one to be blamed.
@Abdul, your comment is good without sense. The coach truly pointed fingers at NFF on the decision but if the coach insisted on 27 players NFF won’t have option than to cooperate with him
@godstate who carries the burden of eagles the coach or NFF ? NFF said they don’t have money t the extent that some assistance coach has been relieved of their jobs. I don’t blame the coach at all . It was NFF decision to take 25 players to camp just because CAF said the additional two players will be on the bills of their FA. I wish we the fans can burst on the street to show our pain and agony to federal government . There is no parastatal as corrupt as the NFF. Until we pressured the government to beam the search light of EFCC on those bastards nothing will change
Oga what are you saying. The NFF president said that it was the coach’s decision to go with 25 players because it would be easier to handle. He is just a liar and confused fellow. Would we be panicking if he had 27 players.
NFF president debunked everything Paseiro said about them.He said all Paseiro decisions.
Leave Aboki wetin think na him sabi read. LMAO
Not surprised. He was chased away far away Venezuela.
What a stupid coach that dumb skull amaju drop on Nigeria.
Amoju Pinnik brought all these problems to Nigerians because of his own selfish interest, he must be arrested by EFCC for questioning.
Imagine $20,000 tab every month in his pockets….They look for corrupt coaches that will do their biddings like Peseiro to impose on Nigerians
Exactly I’m sure Pinnick is the beneficiary of the 20k monthly assurance.
Who is lying between Nacho, coach Paseiro, and the Nigeria Football Federation?
They are playing us lying to the whole Federation.
Coach Paseiro is not transparent, just like his employer. No wonder there are 5 and 6.
Where are those saying 70% half fit Nacho is better to be his to Ivory Coast than having Dessers in the team?
Where are they now? This is why I said Nigerians are the problem of Nigeria.
What did Dessers do wrong? NFF and coach have a question to answer.
This is so embarrassing and disheartening, I must say.
It is well. Fingers crossed. God bless Nigeria!!!
Omo9ja are you related to desser? Though I also love desser to be given his chance at afcon and with eagles but he also git some chances too. You are talking as if he is going to be the messiah that we have been looking for.
On kel, the bucks stop at pesero table. He should have just rule out kel since we have other good options. But I have stopped puting my attention on pesero again. You can’t give what you don’t have. We are stuck with him for afcon.
My attention on the players especially the strikers. Convert at least 50% of your chances. Defenders keep 100% concentration. Players this is the time to write your name in gold. This is afcon. We are not strangers here. No team should get us scared in Africa. None. It’s going to be eleven against eleven. We have the best attacking line despite the injuries.
GOD WILL PUNISH PASEIRO AND NFF IF THEY INCLUDE ANY INJURY PLAYERS INTO AFCON SQUAD. HOW COME A PLAYER THAT DIDN’T PLAY LAST SIX MATCHES FOR HIS CLUB, DIDN’T PARTICIPATED IN TRAINING WITH HIS COLLEAGUES IN DUBAI, THEN TELL ME HOW IS HE GOING TO BLEND WITH LATEST TACTICS APPROACH IN TRAINING ADOPTED BY COACH FOR AFCON.
BRIBE, SENTIMENT, CORRUPTION WILL NOT MAKE SUPER EAGLE TO SUCCEED INSHALLAH.
Amen!
I hope people take my write up serious any time I comment here . The dog that will be lost wil not hear the fere his owner.
No bi today this thing don dey come .
It shows badly against friendly with Saudi Arabia. Common mali dealt with Saudi. Again we went into wcup . Stil even in our backyatch we were looking.
And the last straw was 27/25 wen game hasn’t started. By the time we play one or two games it could be 25/18 with no 9 or no 10 .
Anyway I m monitoring paceiro travel agent in Porto here . The moment he booked flight ticket before the last game in the group I wil tell u in the forum…
We don’t need any other players period after all during 2004 Afcon Nigeria sent three big players home “Babayaro,Agali and Yakubu yet we came out third I could remember that year was osaze breakthrough,so you people should stop disturbing us from inviting all the average players we have,for goodness sake let us manage the ones we have than to invite person that doesn’t know how we the fans feel after defeat,if we lost somebody like desser will not even send
Have you taken your agbo abi what are you saying now. So how has suspending 3 players for breaking camp rules translate to not bringing in extra players. How are you so sure other players are not feigning injury at the AFCON. I could remember Awaziem lied just to be at the AFCON in Egypt. So please don’t come here and be spill garbage
That Portuguese man is not just good but very poor techniques and tactics. Let him not bother returning to Nigeria after this tournament because the football fans would deal with him.
Players faking fitness when they are nursing serious injuries is not new to Nigeria football and world football in general. It happend to our team in the 1994 world cup and as well in the 1998 world cup. There are some players whom the coaches feel are pivotal to his success. So, this confusion about kele’s fitness is not new. I just hope the gamble works for the coach bcs as a matter of fact, Kele is very important to the success of the team as injuries are hitting our players left, right and center. We really need a make shift play maker and kele fits into this fold. Pesero should pray that his players commit themselves to deliver the goods otherwise is all ‘good night awilo’ for us and the coach at the mundial. Don’t expect too much from them but hey, nigeria has a way of springing surprises. It happened at the 2013 nations’ cup where the team had already been written off with return tickets already been booked when we were to face ivory coast in the 2nd round of the mundial.
Who do una? So no comments on positive update?
They enjoy negative updates on one of the most unreliable S.E players in recent times, a bench warmer at club.
Lolo! Negative update
We all knows that the coach is not technically sound but most of the decision comes from the NFF, they believe that the two extra players is just a waste of money but they can easily embezzle billions themselves.. I wish the Eagles all the best sha but I don’t believe in this current squad, If they don’t win their first match they might not qualify from the group
Cut NFF some slack. Read this article on Daily Post as at December 28th:
“AFCON 2023: Peseiro, NFF clash over final Super Eagles squad”
And relax on blaming NFF.
This current board might seem inadequate but they respect more our foreign coaches decisions because it is easy to sack them if decisions they made fall on their heads.
Waldrum dropped Okobi against NFF’s predisposition for Super Falcons and NFF, this one, concurred.
So they are becoming “wise” in setting “banana peels” for their coaches.
Local coaches in the other national teams will be the ones to feel the “fury of interference”.
All decisions on Eagles are by Peserio. Not impotent technical committee.
A coach that knows what he is doing will not take any player that just recovered or recovering to a competition like Afcon . Since when has Nacho become Messi that Nigeria cannot go to AFCON without . This coach is even worse than the moron he replaced. Nigerians don’t expect anything from Afcon our team is not balanced and the bench is worse
my people my problem is how will i even watch the afcon?it’s crystal clear…DSTV is not in this competition….even local channels i dont have it..ah!! God abeg no let us have bad history this year o..from the time i know about football…i have never missed afcon o
DSTV has a dedicated channel for it – football plus. They will also show it on the app DSTV stream according to your subscription package.
Startimes has 3 channels dedicated too.
NTA will also beam it live and AIT, Wazobia and other stations can hook up to NTA to show the matches.
Online, Afrosport TV exists. They partnered nta and are on Facebook.
Channels plenty.
thanks sir..just stumbled on DSTV CHANNEL 202 showing all pass afcon matches…seems that’s the dedicated channel i guess.