Nigeria boss Festus Onigbinde has slammed the door shut on the faint hopes of veterans Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and Victor Agali by leaving them out of his World Cup squad.
The trio did not play in Saturday night's friendly against Jamaica, but captain Jay-Jay Okocha thought Onigbinde might have a last-minute change of heart.
"Well I think it is difficult for those two players (Oliseh and George) to miss out," Okocha said.
"It's unlucky for them because they are good players.
"You have to respect the decision of the coach but my opinion is that they both should have been included in the squad."
Agali and Oliseh have paid the price for their confrontations with the Nigerian FA, while George misses out because of his injury-riddled season.
The temperamental Agali, who scored and was later sent off for fighting in Schalke's DFB Cup win over Bayer Leverkusen, refused to attend a training camp in Ireland last week and was dropped.
Borussia Dortmund's Oliseh, the former captain, remains in exile after leading a player revolt against the Nigerian Football Association at the African Nations Cup.
Oliseh was incensed after players were told to pay for their own airfares to return home following an unexpected semi-final exit at the hands of Senegal.
Oliseh has not appeared in any of Onigbinde's squads since the former schoolmaster took the reins following that semi-final defeat by Senegal.
George has been left out after struggling to find form as Ipswich suffered relegation.
Onigbinde admits he struggled with the final cut.
"It's been one of the hardest decisions I have had to make so far in my job," he said.
"But I'm happy with my selection and the options I have got for the World Cup."
Celestine Babayaro and Nwankwo Kanu were included in a Super Eagles group which still retains an experienced look.
Commanding central defender Taribo West was also named despite his acrimonious departure from Kaiserslautern.
He was forced out of the Fritz-Walter Stadium after acting against the advice of club officials by returning to Milan, where he used to play for Inter, to receive treatment for gastroenteritis.
The club had grown weary of his frequent trips to Milan.
He is now out of contract and will use the World Cup to put himself in the shop window for a move before the start of next season.
Among the new faces given a chance to fulfil a dream is Crewe Alexandra defender Efe Sodje.
He is in Onigbinde's squad for his first major tournament.
Okocha, 28, will be in his third World Cup and despite some notable omissions he is convinced they can survive the so-called 'Group of Death'.
"It's difficult to say how we will do because we are in a very tough group with England, Argentina and Sweden," Okocha said.
"But we are confident that we can at least qualify from the group. That would be a great achievement for us."
There is cause for optimism.
An experimental Nigeria side scraped a 1-0 win over Jamaica at Loftus Road to keep them unbeaten in five games under Onigbinde, who took over after their African Nations Cup defeat by Senegal.
That success followed on from Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin.
Squad: Ike Shorunmu (Lausanne), Austin Ejide (Gabros), Vincent Enyeama (Enyimba), Efe Sodje (Crewe Alexandra), Rabiu Afolabi (Standard Liege), Ifeanyi Udeze, Christopher Justice (Royal Antwerp), Taribo West
(unattached), Joseph Yobo (Olympique Marseille), Isaac Okoronkwo (Shaktar Donetsk), Celestine Babyaro (Chelsea), Eric Ejiofor (Maccabi Haifa), Augustin 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).
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