Injury knocks Nigeria U23 defender Segun Oduduwa out of Korea tourney
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Ace defender Segun Oduduwa has been knocked out of Nigeria’s U-23 team’s trip to the Suwon Invitational Tournament as a result of injury.
Team doctor, Sam Ogbondeminu said Oduduwa suffered the injury after he was badly tackled during one of the team’s last training sessions at the practice pitch of the National Stadium, Abuja, disclosing that for now the player has been stabilized.
Dr. Ogbondeminu said the process is on to get the best definitive treatment for the injured central defender to return as soon as possible, but for now due to the gravity of the injury, he has been ruled out of the Suwon tournament.
Reacting to the news, head coach of the team, Samson Siasia said that due to the fact that the nature of the player’s injury has been confirmed so close to the team’s departure, the technical crew cannot get a replacement, and as such only 19 players will be going to South Korea instead of the 20 earlier selected.
A disappointed Siasia added: “I hope the doctors work round the clock to remedy this unfortunate incident so that Oduduwa can return to training on time and be fit for the Rio Olympics, as he has been an integral part of this team from the beginning.”
The injured Oduduwa has been a key member of the Dream Team, playing virtually all the qualifying matches of the team en route the All –Africa Games in Brazzaville, where the team won a bronze. He also featured at the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations in Senegal where the team triumphed to pick one of Africa’s three tickets to this year’s Olympics.