Racing Genk of Belgium striker, Paul Ebere Onuachu will get another chance to be Nigeria’s heroic ‘super-sub’ on Friday, as he will start on the bench against Liberia, megasportsarena.com reports.
This is sequel to a sneak preview of the tactics that Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr aims to employ in their opening 2022 World Cup qualifier at Teslim Balogun Stadium.
Snippets from the Eagles’ final training session at the match venue 24 hours before kick-off revealed that SSC Napoli of Italy striker, Victor Osimhen will start the game on Friday alongside Leicester City of England attacker, Kelechi Iheanacho.
With Osimhen and Iheanacho both already on fire with their respective clubs so far this season, while Onuachu is barely overcome distractions from an unsuccessful summer transfer quest, Rohr reckons his attack needs to be propelled on current form.
However, that could pave the way for Onuachu to emerge as Nigeria’s hero, in much the same way he did in their last two competitive matches, when he scored a late winner in added time against Benin Republic and repeated the feat few days late versus Lesotho in the Eagles’ last two matches of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
It is now left to be seen if he would replicate those feats as a substitute against Liberia on Friday in Lagos, where the Eagles will host The Lone Star before travelling to Cape Verde on Monday for their second match of the Qatar 2022 qualifiers.
Onuachu could, however, start that game on Tuesday, as Rohr disclosed that Iheanacho will not be part of the squad, considering the warning issued by the UK government over people travelling to Cape Verde, which is a red light nation on the COVID-19 scourge.
With that in view, Rohr confirmed that six players based in England and two in Scotland will not travel for Tuesday’s second game of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, thereby paving the way for Onuachu to start alongside Osimhen, who the coach revealed will make the trip to Cape Verde.
However, in explaining why he will opt for Osimhen and Iheanacho to lead his attack for Friday’s game, the Franco-German tactician cited more than technical issues, as he simply submitted that they provide the best balance, since one is right-footed and the other left-footed.
Onuachu is right-footed and Rohr opined that the former FC Midtjylland of Denmark giant will not fit in well alongside Osimhen, but equally added that the Genk star is still trying to get into the scheme of things in the Nigerian national team.
Rohr also alluded to the current dispensation in his camp, as he added that Onuachu is behind Osimhen and Iheanacho in terms of blending with other players available for Friday’s match, as he arrived late due to travel hitch; and the coach posited: “He can come on in the second half.”
