The recent games played by the senior national team of Nigeria has given head coach Eric Chelle a reason to make a decision on four players who were part of the games.
Super Eagles played two games at the Unity Cup defeating Ghana 2-1 before beating Jamaica 5-4 on penalty in the final after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
They went to Moscow immediately after the tournament and played a 1-1 drew against Russia in an international friendly on Friday, concluding their preparations for the resumption of games in the world cup qualifiers in September.
Chelle has arrived at certain conclusions from the games per what we exclusively gathered and has now taken a definite stand on five players of the team heading into their next set of international games.
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Top of the list is Victor Boniface who the coach wasn’t impressed with in the game against Russia, taking him off for Tolu Arokodare who scored the winner. Chelle was unhappy with his lack of endeavor, tracking back and also pressing. Simply put he failed to put up a shift required to play the manager’s system.
From all indication, Boniface might likely not play for the team in the nearest future, something he envisaged in his now deleted post on Instagram, where he announced his retirement from international football.
Reverse is the case for 30 year old Cyriel Dessers who is now set to be a part of the setup as one of the backups to first choice Victor Osimhen. He impressed Chelle with his constant running, pressing and also penalty area presence in the two games he played at the Unity Cup.
Another player who played his way into the setup is Frank Onyeka with Chelle left impressed with his work rate and distance covered. Something that suits the idea of seeing out games.
Young Brentford defender Benjamin Fredrick also made an impression on the manager who now has him as his fourth choice centre back. A situation that could change rapidly if he breaks into the first team of Brentford.
Chelle has also seen from the games that Bruno Onyemaechi can be limited against opponents who press high up the pitch, and will likely leave him out of future games with Felix Agu now ahead of him in the race to be backup to Ola Aina.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
