Ita Akpan, the father of Super Eagles and Reading of England
midfield discovery, Hope Akpan, has expressed sadness over the fact that his
son will not play in his native Akwa Ibom International Stadium in Uyo, when
the team confronts Bafana Bafana of South Africa on Wednesday.
Ita, who travelled from London along with Hope’s mother to
come and catch a glimpse of their son in action said he was however happy that
his son heeded his advise to play for Nigeria instead of England “I know very
soon, he will be back in the team after the healing process and he will make
impact in the national team with the caliber of coaches that we have in the
team”, he said at the lobby of the Le Meridien Hotel in Uyo on Monday morning.
Hope is now expected to travel out of the country earlier
than expected with his parents for medics at his club in England to have a
second look at the injured shoulder and help in his quick recovery.
Akpan is not alone in his misery as central defence ace,
Godfrey Oboabona is also out of the Bafana Bafana encounter but for a different
reason. He picked up his second yellow card against Congo in the qualifiers and
will therefore miss Wednesday’s encounter. “It’s sad that I won’t play but I
trust my teammates to deliver the ticket to the Nations Cup” he said wryly.
Head Coach, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, said it was going to be
a difficult task to do without two regulars in his team but he also has hope in
the remaining squad to hold their own against any squad in the world. “It would
have been better to play all my regulars in this match but since it has turned
out like this I expect the others to show what they can do in the face of
challenges facing the team and I trust they will do very well against Bafana
Bafana”.
0 comments:
Speak up your mind
Tell us what you're thinking... !