Nigeria coach Berti Vogts has named eight English-based players in his squad to face Australia in an international friendly at Fulham’s Craven Cottage on November 17.

Nigerian peacekeepers faced a daunting task today as they prepared to enter the Liberian capital Monrovia, which has been under rebel siege for two months.

Nigerian soldiers landed a few dozen at a time in a peace deployment that is planned to build to a 3,250-strong force with the goal of ending 14 years of carnage in Liberia under warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor.

Frightened residents of Liberia’s besieged capital Monrovia were preparing to welcome the first troops from a regional peacekeeping force today.