Benin City’s most popular grassroots club side BJ FC has a tradition of organising end-of-year matches in late December to mark the end of a football year. These are friendly matches that pit present players of the team against the former ones. The games carry with them a prestige value as current and ex-players, eager to demonstrate talents to their local fans, look sentimentally to ending the year with victory.

Usually, the matches witness a large turnout of football lovers in Benin City who are hungry to see the likes of Victor Moses, Elderson Echiejile and Solomon Okpako (all of whom are ex-players of the team and have been in the Super Eagles) among others strut their stuff.

Last December’s edition however saw me turning up with huge curiosity to see a present member of BJ FC, Isaac Success, who had just returned from the Golden Eaglets camp after scoring lots of goals to help the Nigerian cadet team qualify for the African Under-17 Nations Cup. Incidentally, Success also succeeded in the championship which ended over the weekend in Morocco, banging in some of the goals that saw Nigeria romp into the final in style before narrowly losing to cup via penalty shootout to Ivory Coast.

At the BJ 2012 games, I had come to see, close-up, how much this the young lad who is currently and steadily building up a reputation as a goal machine had really developed. He did not disappoint. For about an hour in which he was on the pitch he was more than just an irritation to the defence of the experienced former BJ players, many of whom are presently playing for top clubs – including overseas; he was, in fact, the tormentor-in-chief.

Collecting a pass with his back to the goal, Success would expertly protect a highball with his strong upper body, making approaching defenders to bounce away as they attempted to harass him to concede possession. Turning away from trailing defenders, his sheer physical strength was remarkable, belying his young age. When defenders felled him, they would raise their arms in half-hearted protestation to the referee, but perhaps relieved, because the 17-year-old powerhouse could not have been stopped any other way.

Success crowned his performance on that day with a well-taken goal from a long ranged free kick. The consensus amongst the watchers that day was that the guy was truly a special, precocious talent.

Make no mistake. This Benin City based boy is going places and Nigeria has got a new goals king. You might say I am exaggerating. Sure he is only shining now at the Under-17 level. But does it make it any less stirring, seeing a young attacker combining power, pace, intelligence and a knack for scoring many goals in games for both club and country?

I have followed Success’ career from his younger days, and I can honestly say that I find it hard at times to tell what is more remarkable about the kid: that of his obvious quality of being in the right place at the right time to bang in goals for fun, his hot bullets of shots or his calm, disciplined and often shy nature off the pitch.

Amongst friends, he usually picks his words carefully, and is cautious not to be seen laughing out loudly, unlike some others who do that, giving people sometimes the impression that they are natural fools.

After the BJ end-of-the-year game, I chatted with Isaac Success about his progress in the game, and his experience in the Eaglets’ fold. He talked calmly about his determination to keep focus on the game, and his love for his friends and how much he likes to maintain that, no matter what heights he may reach in his professional life.

“When I came back from camp, I took my friends out to special places where we could relax and have fun like we used to before. I want to always maintain that closeness with my friends. It means a lot to me,” he told me.

Thanks to his superlative performance in Morocco, I am sure that European football club scouts are licking their lips at the prospect of signing this wonder kid. His managers would need to be careful at this point about the contract he signs and what club he goes to. Nigeria certainly does not want to see a promising talent lost in the maze of wrong contracts. Remember Macaulay Chrisantus and Phillip Osondu? May that not be the fate of Isaac Promise, the big star of the future if well managed.

•Photo shows a line up of BJ team. Success is standing first from left.

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