Nigeria’s two-legged 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying fixture towards Egypt and Watford is less than two weeks away. But to beat the purpose of the drought Ighalo has been experiencing since January.
Ighalo, who has scored 14 goals within the English Premier League between August and December 2015, has failed to attain within the league this year, raising doubts about his capacity to play his position as the Eagles’ most important goal-scorer towards Egypt.
Going by the stance of the interim Eagles coach, Samson Siasia, who has mentioned gamers’ efficiency within the earlier nationwide crew assignments and membership type wouldn’t rely, it appears the lead striker position can be open to the likes of Fanendi Adi of Portland Timbers, USA, and Chisom Chikatara of Abia Warriors.
Adi, who was just invited to the Eagles for the first time, has been in excellent goal-scoring form within the US Major League Soccer. He helped his membership win the MLS Cup in December, scoring 18 targets in the process.
On the opposite hand, Chikatara, who was the third highest goal-scorer within the Nigerian league final season, with 15 goals, shot to prominence at the 2016 Rwanda African Nations Championship, where he established himself as a slick goal poacher.
According to Siasia, only gamers who present “ferocious form” through coaching for each game will see motion. This means different forwards who have been invited for the video games, similar to Ahmed Musa of CSKA Moscow, Moses Simon of KAA Gent, Victor Moses of West Ham United, Aminu Umar of Osmanlispor FK, Aaron Samuel of CSKA Moscow, Alex Iwobi of Arsenal FC and Godwin Obaje of Wikki Tourists, equally have the possibility of enjoying main roles within the Eagles’ assault.
Garba Lawal, an ex-international, informed our correspondent on Friday that Ighalo’s present goal-scoring type wouldn’t matter when the Eagles face Egypt because coach Siasia has invited other strikers who may also lead Nigeria’s assault.
Lawal mentioned, “Did anybody know that Ighalo will score 14 goals in the English Premier League? That is football for you. Sometimes things don’t work out for you. Every striker wants to score goals. I believe Ighalo will come back and score goals. It is left for the coach (Siasia) to choose the players who will make up his team.
“He has Chikatara in the squad; he has Adi and others. If he decides to use mainly home-based players, there is no problem. The important thing is for us to score goals and win the games. It does not matter who plays. Those two games are very important and will not be easy because the Egypt national team are a strong side.”
Similarly, another former Eagles midfielder, Friday Ekpo, believes Ighalo will enhance earlier than the video games towards Egypt.
He added that the opposite strikers invited for the fixture have been equal to the task of scoring goals for Nigeria.
“It’s a pity that Ighalo has not been in goal-scoring form recently. It is a cause to worry about, but it must be understood that the English league differs from other leagues. I believe he will get back to form and continue to score goals again,” Ekpo mentioned.
“If he does not score against Egypt and others score, we will still appreciate him. It doesn’t really matter who scores. The important thing is playing well as a team and winning the games.”
Meanwhile, Siasia has challenged the home-based gamers, who are already in the camp, to indicate that they are often relied on in essential video games.
Siasia was apparently unimpressed by the gamers’ efficiency after they performed a goalless draw towards Nigeria National League aspect, Katsina United in a pleasant sport played inside the main bowl of the National Stadium, Abuja, on Thursday night.
“We have to step up our commitment level and show more seriousness,” thenff.com quoted Siasia.
“I am yet to see that hunger in all of you in all the friendly matches we have played since we opened this camp. We are facing Egypt in about two weeks and will not stand any chance against them if we do not change our attitude.
“How can we, the Super Eagles, play against this NNL team and fail to create one clear-cut goal scoring opportunity? If we cannot create chances in this kind of games, when and where will we be able to create them? I know we are far better than this performance and will improve but we have to do so very quickly because there is no time.”
Since opening camp last Sunday in Abuja, the Eagles’ home stars have played three pleasant games, two of which were against the 2016 Rio Olympics-bound Nigeria U-23 crew. In all three games, they’ve scored twice and conceded twice.
