Liberia match: Mikel’s arrival delayed •Enyeama, Ejide expected Monday

Some of the Super Eagles invitees from Europe are expected to arrive in the country on Monday but Chelsea midfielder Mikel Obi will not be among the early entrants as his flight has been rescheduled to at least 24 or 48 hours later. A member of the Nigeria Football Federation told The PUNCH on Sunday that Mikel needs to sort out some issues with his travelling document before boarding the flight to Lagos. The official said, “As for Mikel, he has one or two things to sort out with his passport which has been fixed for Monday. So hopefully if that is sorted out early enough he could catch a flight for Monday or just a little later. But what is delaying him is known to the officials and had been discussed quite earlier on. There’s no compromise with travelling papers and so that has to be cleared.” Mikel is making the first appearance for the national team since last November when Stephen Keshi took charge of the team. While the returnee Eagle is awaited, the team’s first choice in goal, Vincent Enyeama, another Israel-based goalkeeper, Austin Ejide and Real Betis of Spain midfielder Nosa Igiebor, are among those expected in the camp in Calabar on Monday. The trio will be joined by the rest of the squad on Tuesday morning. Apart from travelling document hiccups those who have late games on Sunday are also billed to join the rest of the squad on Tuesday. “All the players will be here on Tuesday and that is so because some of them have little visa issues to sort out at their clubs and we expect to have a full house at Tuesday’s training session,” Eagles coach Keshi added. The seven players selected from the Abuja camp and the Eagles coaches are programmed to leave the Federal Capital Territory for Calabar on Monday morning. The first training session for the team has already been scheduled for Monday evening at the Abraham Odia Sports Complex inside the University of Calabar. The Eagles will stay at the Metropolitan Hotel in Calabar. Nigeria needs a simple win over Liberia to qualify for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations holding in South Africa. The Nigerians are making their way back to the continental fold after failing to qualify for the 2012 edition which Zambia won. The first leg in Liberia ended 2-2. SOURCE: PUNCH