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Sunday June 20, 03:03 AM

Okocha, who plays for England's Bolton Wanderers, had failed to arrive in Luanda 24 hours ahead of the match at the city's Citadela stadium but Chukwu refused to worry.

"I wouldn't say (anything) till I get in touch with him to say why he's not here," Chukwu told Reuters in an interview.

Okocha's agent said on Thursday that the player had not been able to get a flight to Luanda and so would miss the match but the Nigerian FA said they had not heard from him and expected him to turn up.

Chukwu said Chelsea defender Celestine Babayaro had not been invited to play.

"We can't invite everybody, we have a lot of players. We want to qualify for the World Cup and we're not playing names, we don't want to please people who want to see Babayaro, we want to get our players who are in good shape to give us good results," he said.

Injured Inter Milan striker Obafemi Martins would also miss the game, after he twisted his knee in an African zone qualifier against Rwanda when he scored both goals in the 2-0 win earlier this month which took Nigeria to the top of group four.

Also out is defender Ifeanyi Udeze who is recovering from a car crash while midfielder Christian Obodo is expected to play for Perugia against Fiorentina in a Serie A promotion play-off match on Sunday.

TOUGH GAME

Nigeria faced stiff competition against Angola but expected to get at least a draw, Chukwu said.

"It's going to be a tough game, a difficult game. We're trying our best to bring out the best and to see if we can win, at worst we get a draw -- it's a good result.

"Whether (Angola are) playing home or away there's no easy game any more. Every country is coming up in the game of football and every country wants to go to the World Cup. We will be at the World Cup, no doubt (about it)," he said.

Nigeria's other opponents in group four are Algeria, Zimbabwe and Gabon. Only the top team will qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Critics say Chukwu has had trouble convincing Europe-based players to travel to Africa to play for the national side but the coach denied there were problems.

"It's just the imagination of people who want to see Babayaro, (John) Utaka. Where they don't see their favourite players, they believe there is a problem. There's no problem, the team is united, the team is one and that's why the team has been doing very well," he said.

Chukwu also brushed off criticism that his tactics had failed to restore Nigeria to their position as Africa's top footballing nation.

"Nigeria can never can be what it was back (in its heyday), just like England can never be what it was, no country can be what it was. You keep building the team and what matters is the result of the match. Once you win a match it means your tactics are okay," he said.

"We beat Ireland 3-0, we beat Jamaica 2-0, and we beat Rwanda 2-0 so I don't know what you mean by tactics. If tactics is losing the game then I don't believe in it. What we do is win the game," he said.

"There's no perfect coach. You listen to the Euro 2004 games going on and some people are complaining that there are certain coaches whose tactics aren't good. It's normal in football. If you follow that you get distracted. What the people want to see is for you to win the matches."

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