Rosenborg wonderkid Igho Ogbu was one of the surprise omissions in the Flying Eagles starting line-up in their World Cup opener against Qatar on Friday evening.

Speculation was rife in the local media that the former Golden Eaglets captain had been named in the starting XI, only to be withdrawn from the squad after failing a late fitness test.

Allnigeriasoccer.com can specially report that Ogbu not making the starting line-up was a tactical decision by manager Paul Aigbogun as the player is in excellent physical condition.

Aigbogun took most people by surprise by opting to start Amuneke Academy of Lagos player Aliu Salawudeen in the heart of defense along with Valentine Ozonwafor.

In truth, the Nigeria U20 boss had already made up his mind to start Salawudeen and Ozornwafor in central defense right from the first workout in Katowice as they played together during the training games.

As for Nnamdi Ofoborh, the Bournemouth midfielder was given a chance to force his way into the starting line-up for the game vs Qatar but was not up to scratch in the training sessions. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel