Racing Genk of Belgium attacker, Paul Ebere Onuachu is still basking in the euphoria of his back-breaking 93rd minute goal that gave Nigeria a 1-0 win away to Benin Republic in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, but says he is also already thinking of helping the Super Eagles win next year’s competition in Cameroon.
Although the continental soccer showpiece will not come until early next year, and the Eagles still have the last game of the qualifiers to play against Lesotho on Tuesday, Onuachu, who has netted 27 goals for his club and is the leading scorer in the Belgian top-flight league, is already looking ahead to a huge impact in Nigeria’s immediate east coast neighbours.
Megasportsarena.com reports that his enthusiasm has been boosted by his stunning header that fetched victory away in the immediate west coast neighbours on Saturday, such that the former Young Stars of Lagos, FC Ebedie of Shagamu and FC Midtjylland of Denmark giant justified getting a late call-up to the Eagles.
Indeed, many Nigerian fans and journalists had queried the rationale by Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr that made him leave Onuachu on the standby list of his original roll call of invitees, as the lanky lad is his country’s highest goals scorer this season in Europe.
To justify all those agitations and his eventual belated invitation in place of FC Nantes of France winger, Moses Simon, Onuachu struck home only his second goal for the national team, following his first on his debut in a friendly against Egypt two years ago.
That helped him get on the squad to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in the same country, but he appeared to struggle for form and consequently looked clumsy in all appearances for the Eagles, thereby giving Rohr cause to keep overlooking him on his roster.
Dramatically, though, like the cat with nine lives, Onuachu, who also got a late call in place of Victor Osimhen for last year’s friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia, got back into the spotlight when he struck at the dead to fetch a 1-0 victory at Stade Charles de Gaulle in Porto-Novo.
On as a substitute in the 69th minute as a replacement for Kelechi Iheanacho, Onuachu powered home a header to seal all three points for the visitors and, while admitting sheer delight with his ability to knock home yet another historic goal, he revealed his targets for AFCON 2022.
While also thanking his teammates in the national team for pushing him to work harder and to all Nigerians who kept demanding his inclusion in the squad, the lad from Imo State concluded with a verdict that the current set of Eagles look good enough to emerge African champions for the fourth time early next year in Cameroon.
Onuachu submitted: “I’m just going to say thanks to the nation for the push, they really pushed me to show what I have to show. National team, I did it.
“I am so happy for the team and for the country. It’s a lot of confidence for a striker to score and I’m very happy. We just have to go there and take the gold.”
