Super Eagles: 5 things we learnt from Rohr’s squad for Seychelles clash

Here are five things we noticed from Super Eagles squad for the September 8 clash against Seychelles.

After the disappointment of not impressing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Super Eagles of Nigeria have turned their attention to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

With the Super Eagles due to face Seychelles in the matchday two of the qualifiers, national team boss Gernot Rohr on Friday, August 24 released a 24-man list for the game.

These are five things we learnt from the list

It’s Onyekuru’s time

 

Henry Onyekuru tore Belgium apart with goals in his breakout 2016/2017 season and was clearly one of the best young players in Europe.

His good form for Eupen earned him a move to Everton but he hit a snag after a loan move to Anderlecht no thanks to an injury that ruled him for the most part of last season.

That injury meant that he missed the 2018 World Cup.

He, however, seems ready to bring on the heat again and has already taken to Galatasaray like a duck to water.

The 21-year-old is clearly one of Nigeria’s best offensive players and with Victor Moses already retired from the Super Eagles, it’s Onyekuru’s time.

2. Rohr sticks with his men

Anyone expecting a major haul of the Super Eagles after the 2018 FIFA World Cup squad would have been disappointed as Rohr’s list for the Seychelles game has 19 of the 23-man squad he took to Russia.

Only four players are missing, Moses who has announced his retirement, injuries ruled out Tyrone Ebuehi and Shehu Abdullahi while Mikel John Obi opted out of the game to regain full fitness after just returning from an injury.

3. Serious tie

The last time the Super Eagles played in the AFCON 2019 qualifiers, they lost 0-2 at home to South Africa after Rohr left out a host of regulars like Leon Balogun, Moses, Mikel, Odion Ighalo and fielded a very inexperienced squad.

There was also the distraction of an upcoming crucial doubleheader against African champions Cameroon that the Super Eagles had to deal with.

But for the game against Seychelles, the Super Eagles are fully focused. Rohr has named the 24 best players available for him to show that he is taking this away tie series.

4. Another chance for Ighalo

 

Odion Ighalo was made the scapegoat for Super Eagles failure to crash out of the Group stage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

They were, however, reasons for the blame as he was guilty of missing two good chances against Argentina with the game at 1-1.

He had also endured a frustrating tournament, playing with no service in the first game, a 0-2 loss to Croatia and coming on in the last minutes of the 2-0 win over Iceland.

The 29-year-old was the popular pick of 2018 World Cup players to be dropped from the Super Eagles. But Rohr has shown his support for him again and picked him for Seychelles.

His form gives grounds for his call-up as he is without a doubt the best Nigerian striker at the moment.

But despite his form in China, Nigerians weary of Ighalo and this is another chance for him to prove them wrong.

5. Nwakali gets the nod

 

While Kelechi Nwakali was not in the Super Eagles preliminary squad for the World Cup, the young midfielder dominated Rohr’s press conference ahead of the friendly game against DR Congo.

Rohr wasn’t happy about that and told the press that he would rather have questions about the players in the squad.

Nwakali had put in a spectacular performance in a friendly game between Super Eagles Team B and Atletico Madrid prompting questions on why he was not included in the preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup.

Rohr insisted that the midfielder was not ready for the Super Eagles at that time. He has called up the young midfielder for the against Seychelles and even though the Arsenal midfielder might not play a crucial role in the tie, the call-up means his talent and potential have been noticed.