With six days to  Super Eagles crucial World Cup opener against dreaded star-studded Argentina, Nigeria suffered a blow with the  announcemenet that star midfielder Mikel John Obi had been left out of the squad because he did not want to aggravate a knee injury.

Obi

The 23-year-old Chelsea star – who follows club team-mates Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and possibly Didier Drogba in missing out on the finals because of injury – has been replaced by striker Brown Ideye, who plays for French First Division side Sochaux.

“We have dropped Mikel from the World Cup squad after he told the team he did not want to put his career at risk as his knee injury has yet to fully heal after a recent surgery,” disclosed top team official Emmanuel Attah on yesterday morning.

Attah later announced that Ideye had replaced Mikel after a meeting of federation officials and coach Lars Lagerback.

Ideye was held up in Nigeria for about a week before he could join up with the rest of the squad in England as a result of problems with an entry visa to the United Kingdom.

He could therefore only train with the team once before the final 23-man squad was announced on Monday.