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Injuries to Aghahowa, Aiyegbeni hit Nigerian Olympic team
LAGOS, Sept 11 (AFP) - Defending Olympic champions Monday suffered another blow to their hopes of retaining their title when strikers Julius Aghahowa and Yakubu Aiyegbeni were sidelined by injuries. Nigeria's Dutch coach Jo Bonfrere told Nigerian radio from Sydney the injuries were "worrying" and added, "we don't know whether they will be ready for the (opening) match against Honduras" on Wednesday. The two players were out of the side when the team beat a South Australian selected side 3-0 in a warm-up match at the weekend. Aghahowa, of top Tunisian team Esperance, was Nigeria's hero in the last African Nations Cup when he came off the subs' bench twice to score vital goals for the Super Eagles. Yakubu Aiyegbeni from the Israeli side Maccabi Haifa has stood out of the Under-23 team with his goals. Nigeria has experienced difficulties in its build-up for the Sydney Olympics as African Footballer of the Year Nwankwo Kanu was forced to forfeit an Olympic place by his club side, Arsenal of England. Other European clubs have delayed the arrival of other top Nigerian stars like Celestine Babayaro, Godwin Okpara, Garba Lawal and Victor Agali. Bonfrere earlier Monday said player poaching by club sides had robbed Nigeria of the chance of scoring back-to-back Olympic golds. The Dutchman said many clubs had ignored FIFA directives about releasing players for Olympic duty. "It is just not possible because of the pressure the clubs in Europe are applying," he told reporters. "It's impossible." Bonfrere said the gifted Kanu was a huge loss and placed the blame on Arsenal, which was reluctant to release him as an over-age player. Bonfrere said he was concerned that Lawal, 24, who plays with Dutch side Roda will arrive in Australia late. "They forced him to play on Saturday, otherwise they would not let him go. The club said it does not care about the FIFA rules," Bonfrere said, adding that Lawal should arrive late Monday, giving him just 48 hours to shake off jet-lag. Under FIFA rules, nations competing in the Olympics can expect players to arrive in camp up to six days before the start of competition. Nigeria and Honduras are in the same group as Australia and Italy.
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