Brentford of England midfielder, Frank Onyeka is set to outshine former Super Eagles’ defender, Sam Sodje on the roll call of the club’s players that became national team stars, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although Sodje is the first player to be capped at full senior level while playing for Brentford, Onyeka’s outing with the Eagles on Sunday took him closer to more international appearances.
Onyeka now looks set to become Brentford’s most capped international ever, following his outing in Nigeria’s 2-0 win away to Central African Republic in the second leg of their World Cup qualifier.
He first hit a milestone during the first leg on Thursday at Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, where the former FC Ebedei of Shagamu and FC Midtjylland of Denmark battler entered Brentford’s record books when he started Nigeria’s third match of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
That match made Onyeka the 50th player to be capped at full international level while on the card’s of The Bes, who are debuting this season in the English Premier League, with the outing also being his second senior outing, after debuting in a friendly against Algeria.
Onyeka, who played only the first half back then, before making way for Mikel Ndubuisi Agu, is now edging ahead of Sodje, who is the first Nigerian to play international football while starring for Brentford in the lower division of English football.
Other African players that became internationals were playing for Brentford include the quartet of Kamohelo Mokotjo (South Africa), Julian Jeanvier (Guinea), Saïd Benrahma (Algeria) and Tariqe Fosu (Ghana).
However, the man of the moment is now 23-year-old Onyeka, who has played eight games in all competitions since joining Brentford from Midtjylland in July 2021, and got top mars for his latest outing in Nigeria’s colours, as he marshaled the Eagles’ midfield in Sunday’s 2-0 victory.
Onyeka’s rating by goal.com on the evening in Doula, Cameroon stated: “Had a fairly better outing than he managed on Thursday.
“The altered formation meant he didn’t have to drop as deep as he did in last week’s 1-0 loss in Lagos.
“Perhaps the Brentford man could have shot at goal after a neat give-and-go with Osimhen in the second half.
“The Brentford defensive midfielder … was equally impressive in the middle with his screening of the central defensive duo of Ekong and Balogun.”
