By Gbenga Jolaosho
Abuja
Super Eagles defender Leon Balogun is injured again, his club Mainz 05 revealed reveled yesterday.
Balogun recently underwent surgery for broken cheekbones and had to wear a mask while playing for the Bundesliga side and the Super Eagles.
The Mainz 05 defender is one of the key players that Eagles coach Gernot Rohr is banking on to help Nigeria put up a good outing at the Russia 2018 world cup; hence his fitness for the global soccer show piece has always been a sort of worry for the national team technical crew. And it could be recalled that his combination with the likes of Troost Ekong in the backline helped to solidify Eagles defence against Cameroun and Zambia who were beaten in succession for Nigeria to qualify for the next year world cup.
Balogun was left out of Mainz’s Bundesliga clash on Saturday against Cologne after featuring for Nigeria in the 4-2 friendly win over Argentina lastTuesday in Krasnodar, Russia.
Revealing why the centre-back could not feature in their game on Saturday Mainz via their Tweeter handle explained: “@LeonBalogun suffered a fracture to his left hand on Friday and has undergone surgery. Luckily, he will be able to carry on playing.”
