Nigeria coach Eric Chelle says Captain Ahmed Musa will have to prove himself anew at the Unity Cup in London to keep his place in the squad, as he tries to establish an identity for the Super Eagles.
Chelle took flak for naming Musa in the preliminary list of his first squad as Super Eagles coach early this year for the World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, but then left the veteran forward out of the final list.
Musa last featured for Nigeria in a pre-tournament friendly game in January 2024 against Guinea ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations. He played 7 minutes as the Super Eagles lost 2-0, and although he made it into the squad for the tournament, he did not feature at all.
In spite of not playing for over a year, Musa still holds the record as Nigeria’s most capped international with 108 appearances, and Chelle was quick to acknowledge his experience and quality.
“Ahmed Musa is a good player, is a great player,” Chelle said at his press conference ahead of this weekend’s Unity Cup tournament, which also features Ghana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, in England.
“Every Nigerian knows that. For me this is the reality, this is the fact. The second thing, he can bring this quality and he can bring this experience. He knows the game because he played lots of games, lots of big games, so he can bring something to the group.”
Still, the coach says Musa, who is now 32 and playing for Kano Pillars in Nigeria’s domestic league, will get minutes at the Unity Cup but will have to prove himself to earn a recall, just like other players under scrutiny.
The coach said: “My vision is like the other players, to give him a chance. He needs to take this chance and show us what he can do.
“And after that, this is my job, if he plays a great game, then it is my job to decide whether he can return, or he cannot. But for him, I think he has a lot of pressure because he needs to be very good.”
For the others, the coach says they will have to be quick on the uptake to fit into the team as he tries to shape a new identity for his squad: “We are focused, we have a game project, we want to build a group, we want to create an identity with the game project and with our plan project.
“We need to put in this team some players who can learn quickly this game project so the Unity Cup is a great moment to try some new players, to try some other systems, to be ready in September.”
Among those new players is Felix Agu, the Werder Bremen defender who has recently committed to Nigeria after representing Germany at under 21 level. He is one of 10 new players invited by the former Mali coach.
The others are from the Nigeria domestic league, and Chelle said he scouted and hand-picked them while watching the Nigerian league, with the belief that they could inject much-needed energy into the squad.
“I was in Nigeria and watched two games in the league and I picked ten players from the league and I tell you they are good players. I spent my time to analyze these players and I think they have some quality and deserve to have a chance.
“I am sure they can bring lots of intensity, lots of aggression to play for this jersey.”
Nigeria open their Unity Cup campaign on Wednesday against West African rivals Ghana before playing their second game on May 31 against either Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago.
ESPN
