Rambunctious Rasheedat Ajibade stole the show this week in Nigeria's passable away draw to Ethiopia with a bombastic strike.
In a game that needed a marquee marks-woman like Asisat Oshoala to dominate like a rash, the Barcelona striker squandered some presentable chances leading to debates about how impactful she has been in the Super Falcons of late.
Injuries have taken an unfortunate toll on Oshoala rubbing her of much bite in national team assignments more recently. I really admire Oshoala for all she represents on and off the pitch and I always root for her to be magnetic in Super Falcons colours.
To be honest, she comes across as hardly the terrorising trojan horse to be singled out by Super Falcons opponents. This tag has, in my view, gone to Rasheedat Ajibade. She is the proverbial nuisance in offensive areas for Nigeria that is always looking to wreak havoc .
Uchenna Kanu is effective but often sporadically.
The effectiveness of Onumonu is difficult to make out although her dedication is never in doubt whilst Gift Monday is steadily finding her feet for the national team but she is not just there yet.
But my question is, was Oshoala actually ever a big-game player for the Super Falcons? I think so.
Before 2019 she was explosive in Wafcons, Wafcon qualifiers and in 2 world cups. But I think her influence has weakened in recent times largely due to injuries as already stated.
This has made her easily readable and slightly profligate when presented with tasty opportunities.
I know nothing about football but, if I were the Super Falcons coach, I will deploy Oshoala more as a winger because she still has the strength to shrug off attention and the pace to outrun markers. But statistics suggest that she misses far too many guilt edge chances.
In Barcelona, she can afford to miss 9 out of 10 scoring chances. For Nigeria, this can be fatal. Against Ethiopia away, Oshoala did have chances to make a difference but it just didn't happen.
Fans like myself will never give up on Oshoala. The quality is still there, it just needs to shine through more often.