It's been a painful World Cup for Kanu (Allsport).

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Nigeria coach Festus Onigbinde had to persuade Kanu it was not worth taking the risk by hobbling into action against England on Wednesday.

The Arsenal striker was desperate to pit himself against Highbury team-mates Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole, but instead the 25-year-old will have to watch from the sidelines in Osaka.

Kanu has endured a miserable World Cup on a personal level, aggravated by the early exit of the not-so Super Eagles.

Injury forced the twice African footballer of the year to limp out out of their opening defeat to Argentina while, still not fully fit, he was reduced to a late substitutes appearance in their second loss to Sweden.

And even though there is nothing but pride riding on Wednesday's final Group F game, Kanu was initially ready to throw himself into the fray.

"He wanted to play but I advised him not to," said Onigbinde. "Kanu is precious to us and it was not worth the risk.

"Like Jay Jay Okocha, he is one of those players who leads from the front and acts as an inspiration to those around him.

"He will be missed but the remaining players will still give it 100%. We have to play it as if we are still in the World Cup."

Onigbinde is expected to make several changes to his starting line-up as Nigeria aim to avoid finishing without a point for the first time at a World Cup finals.

They trained at the stadium in Osaka on Tuesday evening, with Kanu watching from the sidelines, bitterly disappointed that his tournament has ended even earlier than that of his team.

It was during an open training session in Maeshima yesterday where Kanu, who has also been bothered by a rib injury, aggravated an old ankle problem.

And after talking things over with Onigbinde, he finally admitted defeat for Wednesday.

"I know most of the England players so I'd like to play but I'm not going to be on the pitch - I can't take the risk," he said.

"I was injured after 10 minutes against Argentina and then I came on as a substitute against Sweden and I shouldn't have played then."

Nigeria cannot go through to the knockout stages of the World Cup, having lost their group matches against Argentina and Sweden.

However, Kanu believes the team can cope without him, adding: "For the people back home there would be a lot of satisfaction in knocking England out."