Reports emanating on Social Media indicate that the NFF may have mended fences with Watford's Emmanuel Dennis ahead of the Super Eagles' do or die double header qualifiers against Black Stars of Ghana in March.
A delegation of the Nigeria Football Federation travelled to the United Kingdom this month to meet Super Eagles players in efforts aimed at preparing them for the mammoth task of demolishing Ghana to grab the world cup ticket on offer.
One of the players pictured with the NFF president after the meeting is the much maligned Emmanuel Dennis. The winger became public enemy number one after failing to honour Super Eagles invitation for the just concluded Afcon.
Although administrative bottleneck played a major role in Watford refusing to release Dennis, most Nigerians felt the player himself didn't do enough to force the club's hand to release him for his country.
Fans felt Dennis was holding a grudge for being overlooked by previous German coach Gernot Rohr leading to him being blasé about representing Nigeria and eventually preferring to stay behind and score crucial goals to help Watford avoid relegation.
As a result, a number of media outlets reported that the Nigeria Football Federation had shut the door of future Super Eagles invitations to the dashing winger.
However, with Dennis appearing in the picture alongside Amaju Pinnick and other players, it seems like all is forgiven and forgotten.
Having failed woefully in the 2021 Afcon despite playing a pleasing brand of football, failure to qualify for this year's world cup will be devastating. Nigeria needs all her top guns against the Black Star of Ghana.
It is a no brainer: this is not a time for sentiments. All hands should be on deck to ensure an aggregate victory in March's world cup qualifiers, hence it is understandable why Pinnick will now cuddle Dennis despite his Afcon rebuff.
Any Fans who criticise Pinnick for reaching out to Dennis can take it or leave it - world cup participation for Nigeria is non-negotiable.
Emmanuel Dennis, who has 8 goals in 21 outings for Watford this season, has failed to find the back of the net in 6 league games throughout the Afcon tournament period (something that brought mockery from a lot of Super Eagles fans who derided the player for missing the Afcon).
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