Ade aiming to impress

Akinbiyi wants to play for Nigeria at World Cup

LEICESTER, England (Reuters) -- Leicester City striker Ade Akinbiyi said he wants to play for Nigeria in the 2002 World Cup.

Akinbiyi, who has scored two goals in 15 English premier league games this season, hopes to impress new Nigeria coach Amodu Shaibu despite being left out of the squad for next month's African Nations Cup.

"It would be my dream to play against England in the World Cup," he said referring to Group F clash in Osaka, Japan next June.

"I knew I stood little chance of returning to the team during the World Cup qualifiers when Jo Bonfrere was sacked as coach because Nigeria were in the doldrums then.

"But I expected to be among the 40 players the new manager invited for the African Nations Cup," Akinbiyi added in The Sun newspaper Friday.

The 27-year old, who was born in London but has Nigerian parents, gained one cap for Nigeria two years ago.

Nigeria and England are in the toughest group for next year's finals in South Korea and Japan. Argentina and Sweden complete the group.

Related information
Stories
Argentina, England drawn in toughest Cup group
Stats
World Cup Spotlight on Nigeria
Multimedia
Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.