Source: Liverpool_Echo
Everton pair Yobo and Yak’s World Cup dream on the line: Everton FC latest
JOSEPH YOBO and Yakubu go drinking in the last chance saloon tomorrow.[LNB]Steven Pienaar, Tim Howard, Tim Cahill and Johnny Heitinga have all clinched their place at next summer's World Cup finals.[LNB]Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov has a play-off double-header with Slovenia barring his path to South Africa, while Louis Saha, Leighton Baines and Jack Rodwell will all be praying for late call-ups to their national squads.[LNB]But Everton's Nigerian duo line up against Kenya in Nairobi, knowing that even victory may not be enough to secure qualification for next summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.[LNB]A sloppy qualification campaign means that The Super Eagles must triumph tomorrow, and hope that Mozambique can defeat Tunisia.[LNB]It's a long shot, but failure will come as a crushing blow to the Nigerians.[LNB]One of Africa's most powerful football nations, they made their first appearance in the finals at USA 1994, where they made it past the first round at the first attempt, and went on to play at the 1998 and 2002 tournaments.[LNB]Surprisingly, though, they were pipped by Angola for a place at the most recent finals in Germany - and haven't recovered.[LNB]The build-up to the crunch weekend, however, has gone well.[LNB]Crisis is rocking the Kenyan camp.[LNB]The Harambee Stars will face Nigeria without their coach Antoine Hey, who has not conducted the team's training sessions for the last three days.[LNB]'We've been having some problems with Antoine Hey because of disciplinary action he took over some players in March,' says Titus Kasuve, a senior vice-president of FKL.[LNB]'We are playing a very important match and we requested him to call these players and look at them. If he does not need them, he doesn't have to play them.[LNB]'But he has refused to respect the decision of the national association.'[LNB]FKL have appointed assistant coach Twahir Muhidin to take charge of Saturday's match.[LNB]Everton's two Nigerians are approaching the match in fine form.[LNB]Yakubu was clearly still struggling for form and sharpness when Nigeria struggled to a last minute win over Mozambique to keep their World Cup hopes flickering last month.[LNB]But club boss David Moyes was delighted with the striker's display against Aston Villa.
