Ibrahim Abdullahi Bewene may have sealed his shirt with the Super Eagles with his solid performance in his full competitive appearance against 2027 AFCON co-hosts, Tanzania in the AFCON qualifier tie, yesterday, in Uyo.
Bewene was as exciting as the second half Eagles’ drama in the much needed 3-1 win as Eagles improved the log’s placing, trailing a point with six points behind Equatorial Guinea.
The young Banik Ostrava of Czechia right back forced Nottingham Forest star, Ola Aina, to switch to the opposite direction as coach Eric Chelle gambled him in.
Experiment-loving Chelle feared no burnt fingers to hand his new protege the right back role in place of more experienced Aina.
Bewene surprised his gaffer and even himself as his showing proved there wasn’t much ado about him in the difficult role after all.
Chelle loves the numbers the more, the merrier and tripled his experiment samples with each passing game and Bewene proved his right back headaches may belong to the past.
The birthday boy gaffer never hid his drive to make Eagles a complete whole with every department as complete and watertight as ever as he continues to widen his dragnet.
Along came Bewene as Warsaw, Poland, played host to Eagles in the June 3 international friendly, the Banik Ostrava star lasted the full length.
Two more friendlies rolled into the Warsaw 2-2 thriller, Bewene kept his tails up, even assisted a goal in the 3-3 game in Russia, to earn Chelle’s full confidence to hand him his first competitive game debut.
Two starts, two game stars, one assist, Bewene wasn’t making up the numbers in Chelle’s burning eyes as handed him a start and saw him through a finish line.
The visiting Stars wore the Taifa colours with bold, big continental party hosts’ tag, Bewene had a lot to prove.
Refusing to look like an upstart, Bewene chose the biggest stage to prove the Eagles “troubled” right back role could be his.
Taifa Stars shone brightest from the wings but Bewene refused to see it as a threat and gamed on.
With the threats not piercingly damaging, Bewene found time to join the attack and combined well with US-based Alhassan Yusuf.
The Stars struck with lightning pace as captain Wilf Ndidi faltered, Eagles were on the back foot as Tanzania evened things up to put the back four, involving Benjamin Frederick, Calvin Bassey and Aina on their toes.
The restart saw Bewene choose the massive upset to up his game and played a huge role in the comeback.
More experienced Birmingham City right back Bright Osayi-Samuel didn’t see any need to warm up on the sidelines, Chelle refused to be done with his surprise inclusion/starter.
Pegging the Stars back was the total resolve of the back four with a huge role on Bewene’s young feet and shoulders and he kept his promise.
It was winning or nothing as the entire team agreed to make the disappointed fans happy with a face-saving win.
Substitute Tolu Arokodare made the game safe for the troubled Eagles as the maximum points were safe for a comfortable 3-1 win.
The bookmakers agreed with the fans to hand Bewene the game rating of 7.9, second best behind Arokodare’s 8.9, to finish his first ever competitive game on a high.
For a kid with just average Euro football experience of the Czechia levels, Bewene proved he could stake a huge claim.
Much ado about Bewene in the Eagles’ tough right back position going forward in Chelle’s eyes?
A lot more games for Eagles to play for the 2027 AFCON qualifiers and many more subsequent games going forward, Chelle could still stick with Bewene.
Have Eagles finally found the perfect solution to the problematic right back position in Bewene?
It appears Chelle will stick to him in the reverse tie in Dar-Es-Salaam on Tuesday.
Will he still extend that in the subsequent games?
Perhaps, a move to a bigger, top spending club in the Euro top countries, could help him cement his place.
IKENWA ASHIBUOGWU NNABUOGOR
