http://newsafricanow.com/2016/06/nigerias-new-era-begins-as-wonderkids-come-to-the-fore/


The Super Eagles bounced back from their Afcon failure with two encouraging friendly victories this week


While the majority of Africa’s sides have been preparing for an international break that may decide their participation in next January’s Cup of Nations, Nigeria have had more modest ambitions this week.
With their failure to qualify for the 2017 Afcon having been confirmed after their took just one point from their double header against Egypt in March, the Super Eagles heading into this international break simply looking to restore some pride, boost some morale and prove that there is a future after the bitter underachievement of recent years.

The double loss against the Pharaohs wasn’t—of course—the first great failure for this Nigeria collective, who have become unhappily familiar with letting opportunities pass them by.

They won’t be at next year’s showpiece at Gabon like they were absent for the continental jamboree in Equatorial Guinea early last year, and it was imperative that the national side used this international break to begin to move on from the ugly sentiment and disappointment that followed their last meet.

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Admittedly, they left it late against Mali, and it would have been a national disaster had they not beaten Luxembourg—ranked 146th in the world—but two victories, one clean sheet and a host of encouraging performances have certainly begun to demonstrate that cleanup time is underway and that steadily, the Eagles are moving on.

In one sense, Nigeria are particularly fortunate.



There are few things that can help to lift a team through a sticky patch more successfully than a talented crop of youngsters.

Indeed, the presence of precocious wonderkids—some of the most talented in Africa—can give confidence to selectors that they can cut away the dead wood and the underperformers and give space, time and opportunity to the burgeoning buds springing forth beneath them.

The key aim for Nigeria during this six-to-18 month period is to integrate the talented youngsters into the squad around the lingering skeleton of Stephen Keshi’s elect and to ultimately begin to build the team around figures such as Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi, the teenagers who surely represent the future of the Super Eagles and are quite possibly the present already.

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Salisu Yusuf used 21 different players during the double-header against Mali and Luxembourg, including three teenagers, and a further 11 players aged 23 and under.

This didn’t include Ahmed Musa (23), Aaron Samuel (21) and Chidozie Awaziem (19) who were called up and didn’t feature, while recent invitees such as Kingsley Sokari, Anderson Esiti, Chisom Chikatara and Tunde Adeniji are all also 23 or younger, and talented starlets such as Kelechi Nwakali, Umar Sadiq and Victor Osimhen represent mouth-watering glimpses into a potentially dazzling future.

Yusuf is cultivating a talented crop of players who can be moulded into a team together, can grow up alongside one another, and who can hopefully offer the Eagles a level of stability that has been missing over recent campaigns.



Yusuf | Has given youth a chance

The example of Wales at this summer’s European Championships—who will boast of 11 players who are in their peak (between 25 and 29), all of whom have between 25-70 caps—is perhaps an apt example of what can be achieved when the path is cleared for a talented crop to emerge together.

Nor are these youngsters being brought in from relative backwaters to be shoehorned into the national side before they ripen.

Iheanacho and Iwobi represent two of Europe’s major sides, coming off the back of encouraging league campaigns and having featured in the latter stages of the Champions League.

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Moses Simon and Musa have both held their own in European competition.

Kenneth Omeruo, by now, carries the air of a seasoned campaigner at both domestic and international level, while players such as Gbenga Arokoyo, Aminu Umar and Wilfred Ndidi are regular contributors in competitive European leagues.

The youngsters provide an earnestness and a fearlessness that has at times been missing, while the breadth in quality of the new faces have provided competition in numerous different positions across the team.



It’s fascinating to imagine, for example, Kingsley Madu’s competition with Elderson Echiejile for the left-back jersey over coming seasons, while Arokoyo and Awaziem—on FC Porto’s books, don’t forget—will push the likes of Omeruo, Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong for the central-defensive positions.

Also, the versatile Ndidi can provide competition in the base of the midfield and in the backline—what an asset he could prove to be over the next decade!



Of course, there’s the realistic hope that this young collective can begin to gather momentum and help to make the Super Eagles the kind of team that people truly crave to play for once again.

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Could a boost in morale and status around the national team help coax the best performances and the complete commitment from the likes of John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses?

The great expectation, of course, is that the emergence of a young and youthful Nigeria can tempt the likes of Jordon Ibe, Moses Odubajo, Kenneth Otigba, Ola Aina, Chuba Akpom, Dominic Solanke, Chuks Aneke, Fikayo Tomori, Sheyi Ojo and Dominic Iorfa [below] to commit their futures to the Super Eagles.



That will be a story for another day.

For now, Nigerians can sleep a little easier knowing that the green shoots are steadily breaking through and that the promise of a happier tomorrow is burning brightly.

The Super Eagles certainly have the assets to put their miserable two years behind them, and the test now is to construct something formidable from this burgeoning…whisper it…Golden Generation.