Nigerian striker, Shola Ameobi is a big doubt for the Super Eagles' international friendly against South Africa in Durban on August 14.
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The striker who has just one senior international cap under his belt was called up last week by the Nigeria coach, Stephen Keshi for the friendly in honour of former South African president, Nelson Mandela.
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Ameobi suffered a nasty-looking injury while playing for Newcastle United on Saturday against Portuguese club, Rio Ave and had to be taken to the hospital for an X-ray.
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The 31-year-old who scored his side's only goal after 76 minutes in the loss is now racing against the clock to be fit in time for the clash against the Bafana Bafana.
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The Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew spoke about the striker's situation after the game and predictably cut an unhappy figure at the sad turn of events.
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"The most worrying thing about the game (against Rio Ave) is that it looks like Shola (Ameobi) has hurt his arm and is now off for an X-ray. Right now, I don't know how bad he is. It's not a position (striker) we can lose someone right now," Pardew told the Chronicle.
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He added that the injury is a big blow to the club especially with very few options available to him in the final third.
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"It's fairly obvious that we are lacking a cutting edge.
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Papiss (Cisse) is obviously not here and we need to strengthen that area.
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"So Shola being hurt doesn't help us. We are really relying on Yoan Gouffran at the moment and he is working hard in what is probably not his best position, in that he is up there on his own," he said.
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It is not yet clear how long the big striker will be sidelined but it now looks increasingly unlikely that he will play any part in next month's friendly in South Africa.