Why Super Eagles Still Need Ahmed Musa

• What Analysts Told City People

Some ex-Super Eagles and sports analysts in the country believe that the Eagles’ inconsistency in the past month could be the lack of leadership in the team, especially in the attacking option, since the absence of the national team captain, Ahmed Musa. Stating that if he had been in the team, the Super Eagles wouldn’t be struggling to qualify for the 2026 and 2025 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON respectively.

Musa who clarified rumours that he has stepped aside from international duty, said that he only took a little break from the national team, but he didn’t exit the team.

The Super Eagles captain did not feature in any of Nigeria’s seven matches at this year’s AFCON, where the team finished as runners-up and last started a game for the national team in 2021 during a World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde.

His most recent appearance was a seven-minute cameo in a friendly game against Guinea in January and has also been without a club since his contract with Turkish side Sivasspor was terminated in February. In a pre-match press conference in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations final match against hosts, Cote D’Ivoire, the skipper said that he is not ready to end his international football career as he plans to continue playing for the national team.

“Whenever I get the invitation to the National team, I will always honour it until I stop playing,” said the 2013 AFCON winner despite being confined to the bench throughout the Super Eagles’ march to the final. “the AFCON 2023 has been one of his best. For me, I think this is one of my best AFCON tournaments. It has had a lot of surprises from the beginning until the very end.

“Winning the AFCON and touching the trophy is an unforgettable experienced. Omeruo and I experienced that when we won in South Africa. But I want another one & he also wants another one. The good feeling and experience must be double-double,” he said. Unfortunately, the Super Eagles lost the match to the host, despite leading at halftime.

Just before the 2023 AFCON, Charles Anazodo, a reputable sports analyst and presenter for Lagos Talks 91.3fm, said that Nigeria is lacking the leadership of Musa.  He said this in an argument with fellow analyst, Segun Agbedeh on why the omission of Nigeria’s most capped player, insisting that his presence brings something to the team. “If I were Jose Paseiro, (former coach of the Eagles), I would have included Musa because of his experience.

“Yes Osihmen is prolific, but he needs someone that has been there and done that to mentor him, he doesn’t necessarily need to be playing regularly, but he should be with the team,” Mr Anazodo said. In the same vein, Kwara United Goalkeeper Dele Aiyenugba believes the experience of Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa, will come in handy for Nigeria’s quest to win a fourth Africa Cup of Nations title, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

Aiyenugba, 40, is a two-time bronze medallist at the AFCON in 2006 and 2010 and believes the Eagles need his experience. “When I joined the national team, our legend Nwankwo Kanu was not playing. He was usually subbed on but was always there as the captain. We still need Ahmed Musa on the team. It doesn’t matter if he holds a starting position or not. A leader in the team has much to offer on and off the pitch.

“This is the AFCON, and you need the right mentality. So, when you have players like Musa who even started from Nigeria, he will be able to understand everyone’s differences and carry the entire team especially when you are having a blend of home-based and foreign-based players,” Aiyenugba said.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s football legend, Segun Odegbami, has revealed that Ahmed Musa is making a bold push to secure a place in the Super Eagles squad for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco. After leaving his last club in Turkey earlier this year, the winger has struggled to secure a new contract with a European team.

As a result, Musa has taken an audacious step by returning to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) to play for Kano Pillars, a club he briefly rejoined in 2021 before moving to Turkey. This decision, according to Odegbami, is part of Musa’s plan to maintain his fitness and form in hopes of being called up to the Super Eagles for AFCON 2025.

Odegbami, a 1980 AFCON champion, praised Musa for his achievements but expressed concern about the risk Musa is taking with this move.

“I also wore the number 7 jersey and share some traits with Ahmed Musa,” Odegbami said in his column in Complete Sports. “Like me, he scored many goals from the wings, including four during two World Cups—the highest by a Nigerian in World Cup history.

“He is the most capped player in Nigeria’s history, holder of two national honours (MON, and OON), and professional player in Europe, Russia, and the Middle East,” he said.

The elder statesman, however, linked Musa’s bold decision to join the domestic league circuit for the third time in his career to his desire to remain relevant in the national team ahead of Morocco 2025.

“It is in the news now that, 6 months after departing the national team and not securing a contract to play for any team abroad, he will be re-joining his former team, Kano Pillars FC, this season and intends to leverage on that ‘project’ and play his way back to the Super Eagles for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco,” Odegbami noted.

However, the legendary forward warned: “He is taking a big risk. Most before him did not take that path. Few players in Nigeria’s football history have returned to the NPFL to end their careers, and probably none succeeded in leaving a mark. This is also wishing him the very best of luck in this ambitious new adventure,” Odegbami concluded.

Musa began his career at GBS Football Academy and made his professional debut with JUTH F.C. in 2008. He later played for Kano Pillars, setting a record for the most goals in a single season in the Nigeria Premier League until 2011. Internationally, Musa became the first Nigerian to score multiple goals in a FIFA World Cup match, netting twice against Argentina in 2014, and he repeated this feat in 2018 against Iceland. With 108 caps, Musa is Nigeria’s most-capped player.

Throughout his career, Musa has played in the Netherlands, England, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, winning trophies on three continents. He lifted the 2013 AFCON with Nigeria, three Russian Premier League titles with CSKA Moscow, and the Saudi League and Super Cup with Al Nassr.

–Benprince Ezeh

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