Good luck finding a more badass or stereotypical name than Lars Lagerback, the Swede in charge of Nigeria.
Lars picked his final 23 today for Nigeria and there were a couple big name cuts.
Strikers Ike Uche and Victor Anichebe were the most notable names to miss out on Nigeria's final 23-man squad for the World Cup finals.
Nigeria boss Lars Lagerback dropped seven players in his final cut with Peter Utaka, Onyekachi Apam, Brown Ideye, Bassey Akpan and Terna Suswan also missing out.
Real Zaragoza striker Uche had been struggling with a knee injury while Everton's Anichebe was overlooked in favour of fellow England-based strikers Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka. Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi was included despite missing the end of the season with a knee injury.
Squad: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petach Tikvah); Taye Taiwo (Marseille), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow), Joseph Yobo (Everton), Ayodele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam), Rabiu Afolabi (Salzburg), Danny Shittu (Bolton); Kalu Uche (Almeria), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea), Sani Kaita (Alaniya), Haruna Lukman (Monaco), Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev); Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton), Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg), John Utaka (Portsmouth), Victor Obinna Nsofor (Malaga), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow), Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi (Hoffenheim).
Like the US, Nigeria has their toughest Group (B) match to start off the 2010 World Cup: against Argentina on June 12. Things should get easier as they play Greece and South Korea, two defensive teams without much scoring punch. And when you look at the clubs some of the Nigerians play for, you realize why they're always a good bet to make some noise in any competition.
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