The recent outcry over the continual presence of captain of the senior national team of Nigeria Ahmed Musa in the team’s set up took a different turn after he made a u-turn on his decision to retire from international football.
Musa said the last Africa Cup of Nations will be his last tournament but he has backtracked on that statement and he is presently in the camp of the team getting set for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers game against Sierra Leone.
He went further to say he is looking forward to the tournament as well in Cote d’Ivoire next year. Clearly making a statement that he is going to be around for the foreseeable future. The big question is if he deserve to still be in the team.
OwnGoalNigeria.com senior editor, Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman takes a look at why he is still in the team beyond the fact that he wears the captain armband or as some will like to ignorantly assume represents a power bloc in the hierarchy of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
In all of these, one thing people against the presence of Musa in the team fail to see is that he isn’t stopping anyone from getting a look in or starting games. He is not even a starter the past two years. As many as six players have started games ahead of him within that period under review.
Again Musa’s presence isn’t why Samuel Chukwueze who is still ahead of the 29 year old in the pecking order hasn’t delivered as expected. He started like a house on fire but these days many feel he isn’t even suppose to be in the team, how much more starting games.
Samuel Kalu is another who at a time was preferred ahead of Musa. However Kalu’s club form became so bad that his move to Watford from the bench of Bordeaux came as a suprise to even the player himself. At Watford he isn’t seen as an option with injuries and fitness his biggest issue. You can’t blame Musa for that.
Then there was Chidera Ejuke, He blew everyone away with ease. Dribbles like he bought boots for the defenders. But after six to seven games with little or no impact in goals or assists. His spot in the team became a huge debate and today he is out of it completely. A case of not taking your chances when you had one. Blame Musa? I know you rather not.
Emmanuel Dennis readily comes to mind. He had a very good season at Watford with eleven goals to his name. But if not for the sack of Gernot Rohr he might still be in the wilderness of international football. It wasn’t about ability, it was about indiscipline. That kept him out for so long.
When he eventually got his chance. He decided to skip the Africa Cup of Nations to focus on his club career. How is that Musa’s fault? After the AFCON, he came back for the game against Ghana. Aside from giving space and time to the player who laid the assist for Thomas Partey’s goal which ended Nigeria’s World Cup hopes. One can’t remember what he did for the around 70 minutes he was on the pitch.
Musa came in as a substitute in same game and showed the kind of passion, dedication and commitment that the team lacked, it was however a little bit too late for him to decide the game. One thing is you can’t say Dennis wasn’t given his chance. Another player picked ahead of Musa. Are you still with me?
Then there is Ademola Lookman. It took almost forever to sort his switch of nationality from England to Nigeria. You can’t blame Musa for that. He became available and played just once. Still has time to prove if he is capable of keeping Musa out. Again he was picked twice ahead of Musa. So Musa’s presence had no effect on his stay in the team.
Many forget so soon that Alex Iwobi was the go to guy from that position which Musa stole the heart and soul of the world at the World Cup. Infact Musa didn’t start the first game of the tournament. Iwobi did but when he was handed his chance, he made the difference against Iceland. True?
Now Iwobi prefers to play in the midfield not because of Musa but he sees that position as his area of strength. Should we blame Musa for that?
All the players mentioned above haven’t stepped up as expected. It’s worthy to note that at their age Musa was already a serial match winner for Nigeria. Again what’s the debate about the inclusion of a player who played 31 games last season? How many players in the team played that much last season? Very few. Oh please shut up. Musa deserve his spot.