Though I am not an Ighalo fan by any stretch, I still believe he would have played a huge role for Nigeria in the ongoing Afcon.
One the major gripes for inviting Ighalo was that the previous German coach tended to bench other strikers largely for Ighalo. But interim coach Eguavoen appears to have bucked that trend.
In Cameroon, no less than 19 players have tasted action with fans-villain Musa seeing meager minutes. In fact he was conspicuous in his absence in the saw dust game against Guinea Bissau.
I think Eguavoen would have rotated his squad in manner that would have made Ighalo’s appearances less stale.
I don’t mind Ighalo being part of the overall team set up, I just don’t want to see him continuously making the starting 11 and going the distance when other exciting striker are our there to be tested.
Eguavoen arranged his team in a manner in tune with the pulse of the fans. I doubt he would ever make Ighalo outstay his welcome on grass. Such a ruthless streak saw the Sapele born mephistophelean coach axe Sadiq Umar so soon after crashing the net against Guinea Bissau.
He is Mr No Nonsense indeed.
And for someone who has transformed the Super Eagles from Dark Horses to Elegant Unicorns in the space of 4 matches, he is unlikely to sacrifice his success on the alter of dubious team selection.
With a bumper and hugely impressive 12 goals in 18 league games this season, the drumrolls should herald Ighalo’s return to the team post Afcon. He remains sharper with the 18 yard box trigger than most of our younger recruits.
The the tune will be dictated by Eguavoen (if he becomes permanent coach) who has shown thus far that nothing will stop him from selecting the best 11 that will restore the Eagles with the Super-crown that fell off their play towards the tail end of the last Coach’s dispensation.
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