Yobo injured, Mikel arrives for Lone Star

Super Eagles skipper, Joseph Ikpo Tambarin Yobo, spent over one hour on phone with Head Coach of the team, Stephen Keshi, to confirm his unavailability for Saturday’s crucial tie against the Lone Star of Liberia, the coach confirmed on Wednesday.
Yobo’s knee was said to have swollen up after he played 70 minutes for his Turkish side at the weekend.
Keshi revealed that it was a tearful Yobo who revealed to him that the medical team at Turkish side, Fernabahce, have ruled him out of the Nigerian tie with a torn cruciate ligament and have put him on medical examination to determine whether he can travel to Nigeria to morally boost his mates for the tie against Liberia.
Keshi said: “If the medical team in Turkey clears him, we should be expecting Yobo on Friday for the Saturday game.
“Our hearts go out to him and his family and at this point we want to say his health is most important to us because we will still need him soon for the Nations Cup proper and the World Cup qualifiers.
“We know he loves to play games like this, that was why he was shedding tears but we have assured him that capable replacement will help secure the ticket to South Africa 2013 Nations Cup.”
Keshi praised the patriotic zeal of the players in camp, who have assured him that they will pick the ticket not only for Nigeria but for their injured skipper.
Keshi added: “There is no panic over Yobo’s injury. We are just motivated to secure the ticket and reassure him that we will all be together at SA 2013.”
Expectedly, Yobo’s deputy and first choice keeper, Vincent Enyeama, has stepped up as the team skipper in the absence of the influential centre back and has been playing the role quite well.
Enyeama is now expected to lead Nigeria out against Liberia on Saturday in the final round of the Nations Cup qualifier.
Meanwhile, Chelsea FC’s midfield ace, John Mikel Obi, finally arrived the Metropolitan camp of the Super Eagles on Wednesday afternoon, after his protracted battle to get a Ukrainian visa for his side’s UEFA Champions League game next week.
Obi has already said he was super fit for the encounter against Liberia.
The development had kept Mikel away from the Super Eagles camp since Monday, leading to speculations that the player might be in Nigeria and was avoiding the national team’s camp.
That was finally put to rest when Mikel breezed into camp on Wednesday at lunch time.
Keshi said he was not sure that the Chelsea midfielder even got the Ukrainian visa and may have forced the protocol team at Chelsea to release his passport for the Nigeria versus Liberia game on Saturday.
Keshi said: “We must reduce the level of speculation on our top players as that could dampen their spirit and affect performance on the pitch.
“Mikel is here now and ready to play on Saturday and if we find him suitable, he would be played because he has shown enough national commitment.”
The coach called on Nigerians to keep praying for the team, as the team is thinking of the Nigerian people and President Goodluck Jonathan, who personally visited the team during its training session for the first leg encounter in Monrovia.
“I will not be here talking to you if I think the job of qualifying Nigeria for the Nations Cup is too big for me but I need the support of all Nigerians, including critics of the team, and together we can take the national team to greater heights,” Keshi said during a media interaction in Calabar on Wednesday.