The striking department of the Super Eagles is flooded with a bus load of talents. Even with qualification for the next phase of Nations Cup and World Cup assured, it will interest a lot to know that some of the bust strikers did not take part in the first phase of matches.
Not since the days of Westehof and Bonfrere Jo had we this load of quality in front of goal. The Olympics in Beijing thrusted a few names to the fold. Osazee Odemwingie, Obinna Naofor, Victor Anichebe and Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi showed they are good enough against the best in the world.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Ikechukwu Uche, John Utaka, Nwankwo Kanu and Joseph Akpala have tasted a bit of the qualifying games for 2010. Obafemi Martins, Emmanuel Okoduwa and newly signed Udinese of Italy striker Odion Ighalo are waiting on the wings for a call-up.
The big question is how well can Amodu manage this group to form a potent strike force? The next set of games will present more formidable opponents than the Lilliputians of South Africa, Equatorial Guinea and the fighters from Sierra Leone. We expect a fierce challenge from North Africa and some decent West African neighbours.
Among the pack the man from Getafe, Ikechukwu Uche has been the stand out player. Not only has his three goals won games, his overall style has won the heart of Amodu whose attack steams with quality.
The Newcastle man will break into every team in the continent without breaking a sweat but not the present Eagles team. Martins thrives with a 4-5-1 formation which he does well for Newcastle.
He struggles very often when he plays with a striker with almost the same pace like he does. He failed to light up two Nations Cup despite his form before the competitions. In Egypt 2006, he managed to score two goals while he didn’t even score in Ghana 2008.
The Olympic threesome of Odemwingie, Nsofor and Ogbuke who are selfless can factor in the same game with Martins and bring the best from him.
He pairs poorly with Aiyegbeni of his country men. Yakubu has not yet lived up to his high standard in England but he still looks the best pair to the Getafe of Spain hitman. Kanu has lost a lot of speed which he never really had in abundance during his heydays because of the aging process.
He can still feature in the team but from the bench. In Chinedu Ogbuke, we had a young creative striker who can trouble defenders with his lightning pace and goals. Utaka will have a very good substitute in the German based striker if he fails to lift his game which has seen him moulded to the bench in Fratton Park.
Where does Obafemi Martins come in? He is out of the radar because the games have been won without his input. That tells you the extent to which while Kanu looks far off from the attack in the same game they play.
In all our permutations; the bulk lies on the table of Amodu who has handled his cards very well. The light heavyweights will be put aside after the first qualifying rounds of the competition come to an end in October. When the big teams come calling lets hope our glut of attacking options shoot the rest of Africa with goals.
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