The decision of head coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro to leave out Rangers of Scotland defender Leon Balogun from the provisional list of players for the Africa Cup of Nations has been revealed to OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Balogun wasn’t included in the list made public yesterday by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) despite Peseiro picking ten defenders. The 35 year old who is back in favour at Rangers has only player once since the appointment of the Portuguese coach.
His only appearance came in the 10-0 win away to Sao Tome and Principe, where he played the final nineteen minutes of the game. Peseiro appears to have moved on from the defender who has 46 caps for the senior national team of Nigeria.
” The idea of leaving him out is part of the plans of Peseiro to bring in more young players. William Troost-Ekong, Kenneth Omeruo and Balogun are all in their 30s. He was the odd one out due to several factors.
” Don’t forget Balogun was without a club for a while and wasn’t playing at some point for Wigan where he went on loan and subsequently had a one year stint at QPR. Within that period other defenders moved ahead of him in the pecking order, he only recently got back to playing for Rangers”, he concluded.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
