Nigeria oust the old guard

The Nigeria coach Festus Onigbinde has carried out his threatened cull of under-achievers and dissidents by omitting 10 of the unsuccessful African Nations' Cup squad from the party named at a London hotel yesterday for World Cup group matches against England, Argentina and Sweden. Missing are distinguished names like Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and Victor Ikpeba, plus others who have played more recently, including Victor Agali and Wilson Oruma.

The absence of Oliseh and George was immediately criticised by the squad's captain Jay-Jay Okocha, who said: "You have to respect the decision of the coach but my opinion is that they both should have been included."

Oliseh, a former captain, became a national hero by scoring the winning goal as Nigeria opened the 1998 World Cup with a dramatic victory over Spain. Previously with Ajax, he has just won the Bundesliga title with Borussia Dortmund, but is regarded as the ring-leader of players who complained about having to pay their own air fares home following the Nations' Cup in Mali earlier this year. George's form with Ipswich Town has fallen away despite beginning the season with what Ipswich's manager George Burley described as the best home debut he had ever seen.

Onigbinde, recalled as coach following the Nations' Cup at the age of 64, is in a position of strength after completing a pre-tournament programme of five matches unbeaten with Saturday's 1-0 victory over Jamaica at Loftus Road. That followed impressive 2-1 wins away to the Republic of Ireland and Scotland. But he has avoided cutting off his nose to spite his face, calling up the former Internazionale and Derby County defender Taribo "Pastor" West and the goalkeeper Ike Shorumnu, both of whom had initially been out of favour.

Arsenal's Nwankwo Kanu, Chelsea's Celestine Babayaro and Crewe's Efe Sodje are all chosen, though Babayaro has yet to prove his fitness. Ifeanyi Udeze looked a capable replacement for the Chelsea full-back on Saturday in front of a 16,000 crowd that included the England scout Ted Buxton.

Nigeria World Cup squad: Ike Shorunmu (Lausanne), Austin Ejide (Gabros), Vincent Enyeama (Enyimba), Efe Sodje (Crewe Alexandra), Rabiu Afolabi (Standard Liege), Ifeanyi Udeze (PAOK Salonika), Christopher Justice (Royal Antwerp), Taribo West (unattached), Joseph Yobo (Olympique Marseille), Isaac Okoronkwo (Shaktar Donetsk), Celestine Babayaro (Chelsea), Eric Ejiofor (Maccabi Haifa), Jay-Jay Okocha (Paris St Germain), Pius Ikedia (Ajax), James Obiorah (Lokomotiv Moscow), Garba Lawal (Roda JC), Mutiu Adepoju (Salamanca), Nwankwo Kanu (Arsenal), Femi Opabunmi (Grasshoppers Zurich), Julius Aghahowa (Shakhtar Donetsk), Bartholomew Ogbeche (Paris St Germain), John Utaka (Al Saad), Benedict Akwuegbu (Shenyeng Gendi).