Keshi picks 9 home-based stars for Kenya match

Abuja- Super Eagles Head Coach Stephen Okechukwu Keshi has picked nine of the 24 players in camp for the final phase of preparation for next Saturday’s 2014 World Cup qualifier.

In a statement by the team’s Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, released Sunday in Abuja, the players are those invited from the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).

“They will be joined in Calabar by the players already invited from oversea clubs for the final leg of preparations for the match against Kenya,’’ it said.

The Super Eagles would host the Harambee Stars of Kenya in Calabar on March 23 in a Match day-three game.

The 2014 FIFA World Cup Africa Zone Qualification Group F tie is billed for the U.J. Esuene Stadium in the Cross River capital.

The statement further said the nine players and the team’s technical crew would depart Abuja, where they had been camping for over a week, for Calabar on Monday morning.

Alaiya said the dropped 15 players would soon return to camp in preparation for some friendlies and the upcoming Confederations’ Cup in Brazil.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles currently lead their group after two matches, with four points from a 1-0 home win over Namibia and a 1-1 away draw with Malawi.(NAN)