Nigeria’s squad for March’s World Cup qualifying play-off against Ghana has, as always, generated an abundance of reactions from fans and pundits alike.
The highlight of this latest squad is the maiden invitation of Leicester winger Ademola Lookman, who only last month received clearance from FIFA to represent Nigeria at international level.
There are also returns from injury for the likes of Victor Osimhen, Leon Balogun and Oghenekaro Etebo, all of whom were absent from the Super Eagles squad to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in January.
Here are five talking points from Austin Eguavoen’s latest roster.
It bears pointing out that the 2021 AFCON was a bad one for Nigeria’s goalkeeping contingent.
For first-choice Maduka Okoye, who was beaten by the swerve of Youssef Msakni’s fierce shot in the defeat suffered at the hands of Tunisia, the tournament only served as an accelerant for the conflagration of doubt that has engulfed him in his time with the national side. His form at club level has also taken a bit of a dive subsequently, and his confidence will be at an all-time low.
Things are no sunnier where the back-ups are concerned.
For Francis Uzoho (who was in goal for the final group match against Cape Verde) and Daniel Akpeyi, the effect of being away in Cameroon has been terminal for their club careers. Between them, they have played a cumulative 90 minutes of club football since their return from AFCON, and will arrive at the Nigeria camp as rusty as a shipwreck.
While having Oghenekaro Etebo back in the Super Eagles fold is welcome news, the timing of it is a little surprising.
The Watford man missed AFCON due to injury, and although he has resumed training with the Hornets, he has yet to play any competitive minutes since the end of September.
There is no doubt some eagerness to get Etebo back into the fold, and understandably so: this is a player whose level of output on the international stage is about as consistent as one can ask for. That said, is that not why it makes sense to wait for him to prove his fitness first? So that he can do himself justice, and deliver at an optimum level?
If this suggests anything, it is that, in the mind of Eguavoen, Etebo’s absence in Cameroon was a real handicap, one which he feels unable to address in any other way. This, then, is a decision born of desperation.
In Cameroon, Nigeria fielded three nominal strikers. Two of them – Taiwo Awoniyi and Peter Olayinka – have only made the standby list this time around, a fact that has not escaped notice.
It brings into stark relief just how underpowered the Super Eagles were at AFCON. Without Victor Osimhen, Odion Ighalo and Paul Onuachu, Eguavoen was essentially shorn of his three best striking options and was forced to pick from the fourth-choice downwards.
No disrespect to Awoniyi, who got the nod to lead the line and who battled gamely, but his performances in Cameroon hardly set the tournament alight. Despite only playing 214 minutes, the Union Berlin striker had the third-highest non-penalty Expected Goals (xG) – a measure of the quality of a shot based on location – total in the entire competition; only one goal resulted from that 2.38 xG though.
Olayinka will likely go down as an answer to a ‘worst substitutions ever’ trivia question, even if only because he was used somewhat out of position.
The only striker to make it past the cull is Sadiq Umar, whose form at Almeria, in contrast to that of most of his international teammates, has been stellar and impossible to ignore.
The last time Nigeria did not have a scarcity problem in midfield, dinosaurs walked the earth.
This has led to all kinds of bizarre selection choices though, the latest of which is a call-up for Denmark-based Akinkunmi Amoo (as well as the presence of Ogenyi Onazi on the standby list).
While Amoo is quite clearly talented, it is difficult to understand why there is such a keenness to involve him in the national team right away. He was initially touted as a replacement for Ighalo for the AFCON squad, but CAF rejected it on account of lateness; this time, Eguavoen’s infatuation will find consummation.
But why?
The 19-year-old enjoyed steady progress at Hammarby over the last six months before transferring to FC Copenhagen in the winter window. Since making the move, Amoo has yet to debut competitively for the Danish club: the totality of his involvement has been a preseason fixture and a reserve team game. The last competitive game of football he played was at the start of December: three months ago.
In a way, this recalls a similar fixation with Kelechi Nwakali before AFCON. That flame has now been extinguished by a combination of underwhelming performance and indiscipline at club level. Amoo seems the new cause celebre, for some reason; his is even less justifiable considering he is more a winger than a central midfielder in the first place.
It especially makes so little sense when Raphael Onyedika, who is shining at Midtjylland (the same division in which Amoo is yet to figure), continues to be ignored.
After a year out in the wilderness, Emmanuel Dennis has been welcomed back into the Super Eagles fold.
The messy manner in which his (lack of) involvement at AFCON played out left a bitter taste in the mouths of many. While officially it was Watford that stood in the way, the player’s apparent nonchalance in the face of it all did little to endear him to Nigerians, and as a result many made their peace with leaving him out regardless of his form in the Premier League.
However, fence-mending discussions in the aftermath of AFCON seem to have offered him a route back into the reckoning, and if all goes to plan he should earn minutes against Ghana.
While that is far enough (and really one cannot argue Dennis does not deserve it), there is more that could have been done to smooth things over. Nigerians are a notoriously proud people, and do not take rejection well. In much the same way the reaching out to former boss Gernot Rohr would probably have gotten him a recall earlier, something as simple as the player doing a video as an act of conciliation would have gone a long way.
As is, Dennis will need to win a nation over the hard way, fighting a groundswell of animosity. Goals wil heal all wounds, of course, but really it could be so much easier for everyone.
Source: pulse.ng