Paul Onuachu: A Super Eagles outcast

What kind of excuse or reasoning is good enough for a national team coach to drop a striker with 25 goals in 29 games?

The Super Eagles are the biggest sports brand in Nigeria and one of Africa’s most popular football teams. Nigeria is a football powerhouse in Africa and has achieved big things on the global stage especially in age-grade competitions. It is, however, interesting how the nation has failed on the world stage at the senior level.

The purpose of the piece is not to review the performances of the Super Eagles over time but to take a stab at the recent exclusion of one of the most lethal strikers on the European football scene at the moment. When you take a look at the scorers chart for the big leagues in Europe; the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku, Ciro Immobile, Lionel Messi, Luis Saurez, Kylian Mbappe, and Mohamed Salah take center stage as the pre-eminent goalscorers across the European landscape.

A look at the next tier of leagues outside the big five will have you consider the Jupiler Pro League as one of such leagues; competitive enough to be ranked in the top 10 by UEFA. This season a Nigerian has lit up the league with goals; he is currently the highest-scoring African anywhere. Ideally, this should give him all the necessary recognition he deserves; he should be in the conversation for Player of the Year domestically in Belgium; a nomination for the top prize for African footballers; you could go on and on.

So you ask, who is this individual and why isn’t he getting the recognition he deserves? Well, standing at 201cm should be intimidating and imposing enough for Paul Onuachu to get recognition anywhere. His sheer size makes it hard for you to miss him; so why isn’t the young man getting the attention he deserves. In saner countries; a 25 goals striker would be the first on any list, but Nigeria and the people that run its football are far from sane.

It even gets more complicated when someone who is clubless and hasn’t actively kicked a ball in close to six months gets a call-up. How do you even begin to defend this decision? The Super Eagles coach was put to task as to why Super Eagles’ club-less team captain; Ahmed Musa got a call up into the main squad against a prolific Onuauchu; the manager could be clearly heard clutching and lacking a valid response or defense for this ridiculous decision.

Paul Onuachu is a player that has divided many Super Eagles fans and observers. He announced himself to national prominence by scoring one of the fastest goals in the national team’s history on his debut in a friendly. However, subsequent inclusions and performances have resulted in less than impressive performances. Whilst, the Genk striker has not been able to translate his superb club form on the international stage; many believe this is due to the coach not playing to his strengths.

Onuachu has scored all kinds of goals this season; headers, tap-ins, long-range efforts; you name it. You can’t have a varied resume and compilation of goals and not be good enough to make the main selection. His hold-up play and ability to bring others into the game have contributed to the success Genk has achieved this season as they aim for qualification into the Champions League playoff rounds.

It is time for Gernot Rohr to get down to work to fashion out a style and gameplay that suits the lanky striker. The German has to get off his couch and comfort zone; it is high time the Super Eagles became more flexible and less predictable with different attacking options to work with.

A striker like Paul Onuachu cannot continue to be ignored especially considering that his closest rival for goals scored this season amongst the invitees has 14 league goals to his name. Continued exclusion could leave the young man disillusioned and unwilling to further his International career; thereby eventually making him an international football outcast.

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