It is great to see top stars of the Super Eagles scoring crucial goals and making positive impacts for their respective teams. Odion Ighalo is based in Saudi Arabia but he has been in consistent scoring form for his team. Emmanuel Dennis of Watford will be a good addition in the team since he is the top scorer for the team. Moses Simon, a star player at January’s AFCON has continued with his brilliance in the colours of Nantes in France.

Taiwo Awoniyi and Sadiq Umar had a slow return to form in their clubs but they are both scoring again now. Paul Onuachu and Victor Osimhen both missed out of the AFCON due to injury but the two are not just back but they are scoring. Osimhen in a recent Serie A match against Cagliari came in as a substitute but he hit the target with a bullet header to end the La Liga tie 1-1 and salvaged the match for his title chasing team, Napoli. His current valuation of 100m Euros by Napoli should be a thing of pride to every Nigerian. We are aware Real Madrid and Manchester United are two of the top clubs interested in Osimhen and so without injury, he is a boost for this fixture. Also, Ademola Lukman who only recently switched his international allegiance from Britain to Nigeria is also in blistering form for Leicester in the English Premier League (EPL) along with Wilfred Ndidi.

A former international, Tijani Babangida, only recently expressed delight about the current form of the team and added that it could bring about a selection headache for the handlers. Babangida said: “The way the Eagles’ players are banging in goals is very good but Coach Austin Eguavoen and his other assistants could have problems in getting a starting line-up.” On the other hand, however, most if not all the defenders in the team are not having the best of times in their respective clubs, which is very worrisome. William Troost-Ekong is no longer a starter for struggling Watford, Leon Balogun is also warming the bench at Rangers in Scotland where another Nigerian, Calvin Bassey, only got his first call-up for the team. Ola Aina, Shehu Abdullahi and Kenneth Omeruo are not faring any better as well.

This is a huge cause for concern which Eguavoen must deal with in the forthcoming fixture against the Black Stars of Ghana. The Eagles’ number one goalkeeper, Maduka Okoye, is also letting in goals anyhow in Holland and one wonders what keeper trainer Alloy Agu has been doing with the national team goalies and why we cannot get a reliable number one in the current team. Former safe hands, Vincent Enyeama’s standard was so high for the team but the qualities of the current top three goalies are not even up that of the two-time CAF Champions League winner if put together. Nigeria has a record of producing great goalies and so the current situation is disturbing. Eguavoen must use the midfield to further shield the defence while the strikers must be told to be clinical upfront to give the country an advantage on aggregates at the end of the two legs.

Any match involving Nigeria and Ghana is a big fixture because of the traditional rivalry between the great West African sides. It has always been a tough duel because of the bragging rights involved when these neighbours clash. At the recent Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Ghana crashed out in the first round after losing a crucial last match 3-2 to debutants, Comoros. On the other hand, the Eagles under the tutelage of former international, Eguavoen, recorded a clean sweep of three wins including the opener against Pharaohs of Egypt in the prelims only to lose the crunch Round of 16 game 1 – 0 to Tunisia.

So, we believe the early exit of both sides at the just concluded AFCON makes this encounter dicey. The Ghanaians are not taking things lightly at all with a new technical crew announced just as Nigeria also strengthened the coaching crew of the Eagles with the injection of Emmanuel Amuneke as the Head coach with Eguavoen still as interim overall boss, the Manager. Already, March 25 has been confirmed for the first leg slated for Cape Coast in Ghana while March 29 is the date for the return leg billed for Abuja, Nigeria.

The recent visit of coaches Eguavoen and Amuneke to London to see some of the players and their club managers was a good initiative. I was good for further bonding especially with the zoom meeting arranged out there with other players not based in the UK.

It is also good to identify the problem areas in the team as regards the administrative aspects. We expect a good blend and great understanding between the technical crew and the NFF to ensure the Ghana hurdle is effectively crossed. Winning a ticket to Qatar is not negotiable. We charge the players and the technical crew to put up their A game over the two legs so that the desired result will be achieved for the Eagles to be at the Mundial.