FC Union Berlin of Germany striker, Taiwo Awoniyi could be on course for his long-awaited senior national team debut on Thursday, as his late call-up to the Super Eagles’ camp in Lagos appears to be yielding dividends.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, in contrast with several years of anxiety and anticipation, even while banging goals on loan at several clubs from Liverpool of England, who then owned his contract, Awoniyi’s moment looks set to come.
This much has been provided by Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr, who admitted he has been impressed by what he has seen from the UAE 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist since he joined up with his national team colleagues.
Rohr’s declaration came few hours after Awoniyi was included in the official German Bundesliga Team of the Week, as he scored Union Berlin’s 100th league goal in the 69th minute when they romped from behind to beat Mainz 2-1 on Sunday.
He netted his eighth goal of the season in all competitions in the 73rd minute to secure three vital points for his side and get a spot in a 4-3-3 formation for the team of the week, in which he is deployed as the right-sided attacker, on a rate card of 19 points for his efforts.
It is another major step forward for Awoniyi, who hit the net in each of his first three games for Union Berlin after joining on a permanent deal from Liverpool but fired blanks in his next three before bagging a brace versus Mainz.
Awoniyi, was not on the Eagles’ original roster of invitees but received a late call-up on Sunday, to replace injured Lorient of France striker, Terem Moffi, has also represented Nigeria at U20 and U23 levels.
Although Rohr admitted Awoniyi has limited training time and space to blend with his colleagues, there is a strong possibility that the former FSV Frankfurt and SV Mainz of Germany as well as ex-KAA Gent and Mouscron of Belgium ace could play off the bench against Central African Republic (CAR).
Rohr pointed out that Awoniyi will not start the World Cup qualifier at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, but hinted that he could decide to use the in-form attacker as a second-half substitute.
That would be a golden opportunity to for Awoniyi to prove his mettle in Nigeria’s colours, as he scored a brace against his former club, Mainz last weekend in the German Bundesliga, and he would be eager to hit the ground running from the word go with the Eagles.
Rohr reasoned thus: “It would not be a gift for him to start after only one or two training sessions.
“That’s why we want to see what he does tomorrow in the training session, we have our strikers Osimhen, we have Kelechi.
“We have our wingers so we will see but he has a chance to come in and to finish the game. Sometimes it’s more important that you finish the game than to start it.”
