Izuchukwu Okosi
Super Eagles camp in Tangier came alive with the arrival of the players invited for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Liberia and Cape Verde.
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One player whose invitation caused uproar in some sections was that of Jude Odion Ighalo who makes a comeback from international retirement.
In this piece, Prime Business Africa’s Senior Correspondent IZUCHUKWU OKOSI looks at why the Al Shabab striker must shine in the battles against Liberia and Cape Verde.
Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr and Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Melvin Pinnick both deemed it wise to recall Ighalo from his international retirement ahead of the last international window in 2021.
The Eagles will play against Liberia and Cape Verde on Saturday and Tuesday next week with even only a win and a draw enough to guarantee the team a place in the final rounds of qualifiers in March 2022 when the five representatives for Africa will be confirmed.
What many Nigeria football faithful have always asked is the relevance of Ighalo, 32, when the country have a repertoire of young strikers who have so much and many years to offer.
One thing that is noteworthy is that Nigeria’s chances of qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup is beyond Ighalo.
Firstly, the Super Eagles of Nigeria are ranked the 5th best side in Africa, one place ahead of the Pharaohs of Egypt.
As every football fan (should) knows, five African teams will represent the continent. It is important for the current top five nations (Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria) to finish so in the monthly FIFA ranking ahead of the March 2022 last round of qualifiers.
This is because the leading teams will have relatively easy draws by virtue of their rankings.
This would mean that Egypt in sixth place and not Nigeria stand the risk of getting paired with any of the continent’s heavyweights.
However Egypt may nick that crucial fifth spot at the expense of Nigeria and that has nothing to do with Ighalo’s return to the team.
The north Africans will take part in the Arab Cup this December – a tournament for Arab and North African national teams.
The problem is that the tournament is approved by FIFA so the results will count for something – in this case for Egypt – should they perform exceptionally and perhaps win the tournament.
If this is the situation, it means that Egypt could rise above Nigeria should the latter falther in the matches against Liberia in Tangier and Cape Verde in Lagos.
Apparently former Manchester United striker Ighalo might not have anything to do with the outcome of events in Group C of the qualifiers.
What would be the Al Shabab striker’s interest is to score goals and hopefully in both games that will enhance Super Eagles’ World Cup hopes.
However, the greatest issue facing the Eagles is not particularly conversion of goals chances but creating those chances capable of leading to goals.
The present Super Eagles’ midfield have grafters more than silky and creative players and they have struggled to create chanced for their team mates in front of goal.
The xG ratio of the team is rather poor for a team wishing to surpass the World Cup feats of Cameroon and Senegal who have reached the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The midfielders hardly string passes for long spells and most of their efforts are even sideways without deep incursions. That leaves the strikers isolated most times and relying on the inverted wingers to make a drift infield.
When this tactical formation is the case, head coach Gernot Rohr is left hapless as his right backs are not mandated to fill the void vacated by the inverted wingers.
This leaves a huge chunk of space for the opposition to exploit.
Ighalo’s return to the Eagles fold hopefully will not translate to low productivity. Many Nigerians believe Taiwo Awoniyi, Cyreil Dessers, Emmanuel Dennis, Simy Nwankwo and even David Okereke are all doing well in Europe and deserve to be invited rather than an’ ageing’ Ighalo.
With the decision of the Confederation of African Football, CAF, to extend the number of players to play at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon to hold in January 2022, there is hope for the emerging young guns.
For now, Ighalo must deliver in the matches against Liberia and Cape Verde or have his sweet reputation dented.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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