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The neat combination that has been achieved in recent months between Leicester City of England battler, Wilfred Onyinyen Ndidi and Glasgow Rangers of Scotland dazzler, Joe Aribo is keeping Huesca of Spain midfielder, Kelechi Nwakali out of the Super Eagles’ starting line-up.
This is the verdict of Eagles’ interim coach, Augustine Eguavoen, who reasoned that he cannot snap the almost perfect understanding that has developed between Ndidi and Aribo, hence his decision to start them in all matches so far at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Megasportsarena.com reports that, although chances are high that Nwakali might get to start the dead-rubber third group match against Guinea Bissau on Wednesday, Aribo and Ndidi would mostly return to continue their combined forces in the round of 16.
Eguavoen provided a strong hint in that direction when he stressed that Nwakali is not in line to be part of the regular starting 11 because the technical crew cannot afford to destabilize the blend and rhythm that were gained in the mid-section before AFCON 2021.
It is noteworthy that Nwakali was not included in Nigeria’s original provisional squad list for the ongoing competition in Cameroon, but his name was added to the final squad list by Eguavoen upon his appointment as interim coach of the side.
However, despite Eguavoen obviously being a fan of Nwakali’s style of play, the gaffer has restricted the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup-winning captain and former Arsenal of England signing to only two substitute outings in Garoua.
Before playing as a second half substitute in the Super Eagles 3-1 win against Sudan on Saturday, Nwakali, who previously starred in exhibition games against Atletico Madrid of Spain and Liberia, made his full international debut against Egypt last Tuesday.
Incidentally, he played the last 25 minutes of Saturday’s victory over The Falcons in place of Aribo and, though some fans believe the youngster has comported himself well within the few minutes he got in both matches, Eguavoen stressed that Nwakali is still behind the pecking order.
He concluded by urging Nigerians to remain patient with him in his choices for each match of the Eagles, while also personally charging Nwakali to keep working hard in order to get more chances in the squad and then take advantage of any opening that comes his way as the AFCON 2021 tournament progresses.
Eguavoen said: “Ndidi actually hasn’t played with Kelechi so it’s a little bit difficult to just change the team’s formation so that’s what it is.
“When he settles down you can see better football from him. He didn’t do that badly and when you lack match rhythm it also affects but I think he performed well.
“Kelechi we all know is a good player, we expect more than this from him, because Aribo is being there, good understanding with the team and with Ndidi in the middle of the park.
“More patience I’d say. He has been a fringe player in and out of the team now we have given him all the confidence to come in and not to start the game.”
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