COUNTDOWN: Players Seeking Russia (March)

Last month, I began the blog by rating the percentage of likelihood of players making the Nigerian squad to the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 
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The categories are as follows: Highly Probable++ (80-100% likelihood), Possible+ (50-79%), Questionable?  (40-59%) and Doubtful?? (39% or less). Comments follow each category.

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Two international friendlies this month have unscrambled the categorization of players that was made in February. Some players have now moved up and some have gone down. This up and down movement is expected until the final 23 is picked in June. By this monthly process, it is highly probable that a large percentage of the 23 that would be named for the World Cup in Russia will be predictable.

March Squad Status of Players
The status of players this month, after the friendly internationals in Wroclaw and London, is presented below using the four categories identified above. Players in green are those who moved up and those in red are those who moved down from the previous month.

Highly Probable++

Victor Moses

Mikel Obi

William Ekong

Wilfred Ndidi

Last month, I had six players listed under this category but Iheanacho and Abdullahi move down following the international friendlies. Iheanacho was not convincing against Poland and Shehu’s performance was not truly outstanding and his grip at a starting spot may be loosening. Mikel maintains his spot in spite of his absence from the internationals this month. He remains the glue for the team. Ekong and Ndidi concretized their ratings as definite travelers to Russia.

Possible+

Alex Iwobi

Leon Balogun

Odion Ighalo

Onazi Ogenyi

Joel Obi

Francis Uzoho
Kelechi Iheanacho
Shehu Abdullahi

Uzoho moves up to this category based on his display against Poland and Serbia. Although he conceded twice in the Serbia game, it was evident that he is growing in confidence. Joel Obi was the boss in the Poland game and moves straight to this category after just that game. Against Serbia, he did not quite rise to the same level but his Poland display gives him a lot of consideration for Russia. Simon drops from this category. Besides those changes, this category remains similar to month. Although Onazi had a poor game against Poland and did not exactly set the Serbia game on fire, it is difficult to see him absent from the World Cup squad.

Questionable?

Moses Simon

Brian Idowu

Ola Aina

Tyronne Ebuehi

Chiedozie Awaziem

Ikechukwu Ezenwa

Oghenekaro Etebo
Ahmed Musa

I was expecting Etebo to move up from this group but injury prevented him from playing in the two international friendlies and, thus, he stays in this category until the May camp. Idowu played well in the friendlies but not enough to assure himself of a place in the World Cup squad in the face of fierce competition. Moses Simon finds himself moving down to this category because of largely an inactive display at the friendlies. Ahmed Musa moves up to this category. Ahmed Musa is questionable but he may be the third striker for this team considering that he played in that position in the last minutes of the game in Wroclaw and started as striker in the game against Serbia. Although Musa was not outstanding in any of the two internationals, he did produce memorable moments in both the Poland and Serbia games where his speed assured a much needed consideration in the upcoming May camp.

Doubtful??

Elderson Echiejile

Mikel Agu

Kenneth Omeruo

Daniel Akpeyi

John Ogu

Uche Agbo

Stephen Eze

Junior Ajayi

Gabriel Okechukwu

Most players in this category were the same players who were listed under the category in February. However, some names have been dropped completely as their chances have even become much dimmer as the World Cup approaches. Eze, Ajayi, and Okechukwu are virtually headed for the door. Ajayi was the only one to play a few minutes against Serbia. The other two were not on the field and the handwriting could be on the wall for all three. Their only hope now is to be recalled to camp in May with another opportunity to impress in training and hopefully appear in the game against Congo DR. The same situation appears to be the case with Uche Agbo who always receives an invitation to camp, trains, and then remains rooted to the bench on match days.