NEWCASTLE United striker Shola Ameobi looks set to miss Nigeria’s forthcoming friendly game against South Africa on August 14 after breaking an arm during a recent pre-season friendly against Portuguese club Rio Ave.
Ameobi, 31, was one of 20 players invited by Eagles head coach for the game in Durban arranged to mark the birthday of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela but it appears that he will miss it now. On Saturday, Ameobi left the stadium with his arm in bandages after sustaining an injury during the match.
Coming off the bench, Ameobi scored in Newcastle’s 1-3 loss to Rio Ave and looked in fine form but the injury now looks to have cut his season short. Apart from missing out for the Super Eagles, he will also not participate in the early part of his club’s 2013/14 campaign and Newcastle is already looking to buy at least one striker for cover.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew, said: “The most worrying thing to come out of the game is Shola. It looks like he’s hurt his arm and he’s going to have to go for an X-ray. “We don’t know how bad it is but everybody else is fine.
It’s not really a position where we can pick up problems.” A prolonged absence would leave Newcastle with Yoan Gouffran and Adam Campbell as their only available striking options for their pre-season tour, with Papiss Cisse left at home amid a dispute with the club over their sponsorship arrangement with Wonga.
Mr Pardew has previously expressed an interest in Aston Villa’s Darren Bent and Lyon forward Bafetimbi Gomis, with Queen’s Park Rangers’ Loic Remy also thought to be a target. Earlier this month, Ameobi had revealed that he is now ready to play for the Super Eagles again having resolved the discrepancy with Newcastle that prevented him from featuring for Nigeria.
He featured for Nigeria once in a friendly against Venezuela in November last year at Marlins Park Stadium in Miami and following a good display, Keshi invited him to participate in the African Cup of Nations in South Africa but the player could not join the squad as there is a clause in his Newcastle contract preventing him from doing so.
Following the resolution of the contractual issue, the player was set to feature for the Eagles in Durban and possibly play Nigeria’s next World Cup qualifier against Malawi in September. Ameobi had said that he would like to qualify Nigeria for the World Cup coming up in Brazil next year.
