Born to a Nigerian father and a Russian mother he chose to play for his fatherland when as a young boy he discovered he had talent in the game. I don’t know where Emmanuel Ibru spotted him, but I recall he enrolled him into his football academy that was serving as a feeder team to many local and foreign clubs, from where he moved him to Bendel Insurance FC. Meanwhile, it was obvious to everyone that Emmanuel was bidding his time, waiting for the opportunity, right club and price to export the prodigious talent to Europe! All three came soon enough. I do not know the full details but his move to Europe came and has been very lucrative for both player and manager, helped in the main by Osaze’s professional attitude.
Since the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia in 2004, Osaze has continued to improve as a player and has now developed into one of the permanent fixtures in the national team. Even Samson Siasia could not resist the temptation to use him as one of the three allowed over-aged players for the 2008 Olympics Games in Beijing. In the recent drab performances of the Super Eagles he has been one of the lone stars that have shown through the dark clouds, and has been rewarded as man-of-the-match in the last two home matches. This past week he was selected during the first MTN/AIT by Nigerians through a process conducted via SMS as the country’s football player of 2009.
Osaze, at 28, is still one of the ‘young’ elements in the Super Eagles team even though he has been in the team for 7 years. That speaks volumes. His age raises no queries, unlike most members of the team who officially claim to be younger but are been caught out by nature evidenced by incessant injury and fast decline in performance! That’s why looking at him it is apparent that he still has many years in his legs left to entertain and serve the country, unlike many that started at about the same time and even after him that are already in the twilight of their careers in the national team.
I salute him and wish him many more years of useful service to fatherland.
The Eagles need a playmaker to win in Kenya!
I cannot pretend that I know precisely what is presently wrong with the Super Eagles. One very respected sports administrator suggested that the problem with the team is that of age, that the average age of the team is closer to 40 than 30! He is surely exaggerating what should not be discountenanced. The players may not generally be quite as young as their international passports would indicate but I seriously don’t think that is the only reason the team is lumbering rather than racing during matches. Whatever the reasons may be, the team does not instil much confidence in the generality of the Nigerian people and has failed to play with any conviction, or fluidity, or speed, or aggression, or organisational discipline or purpose.
Having said all of that the Super Eagles of Nigeria are still not an easy team to beat, as we have seen even through this championship. Up till now, disjointed, unorganised and weak as it may look, the team has not lost a single match in the series. I can confidently, therefore, say that history will not be upturned as they confront the Harambee Stars in Nairobi mid-November. The Eagles have never been beaten by the Stars in the history of their meetings and that is not about to change in 2009. What often happens is that, using the advantage of playing at high altitude, the Harambee Stars play their matches at 1000 kilometres per hour, doing all the running and passing, and hardly ever scoring goals. Go through their records. As we saw during the first match in Abuja, they can bark loudly without ever biting, a lot of smoke without fire! That is likely to be the scenario again in November.
The challenge is that the Super Eagles are also yet to record a single goal outside Nigeria since the group matches began. The team has been particularly weak in the goal-creating department. A team that has Ogbuke, Odemwingie, Nsofor, Martins, Aiyegbeni cannot be said to lack finishers. What has been glaringly missing is the presence of a playmaker, a creative midfielder, the one who lays the killer passes, who keeps ball possession and disturbs opposing defences with decisive touches and passes. For Nigeria to win in Kenya, I believe, will take the influence of a playmaker to do the ball distribution that will free the running forwards. Does Nigeria have such a player at the moment? In the present squad the answer is surely no. What about in the entire Nigerian football landscape? Perhaps! The first player that comes to my mind (and there may be a few others) is the Flying Eagles playmaker, Rabiu Ibrahim. The big question is: is Rabiu Ibrahim ripe and ready for a role in the Super Eagles? Surely he has the skills, the vision and the passing touches. Nigeria would not lose anything giving him a chance and the responsibility. His experiences at the junior levels must have prepared him psychologically for action at any level.
If what we saw of the Harambee Stars the last time they came and lost by three goals to the Super Eagles in Abuja is anything to go by, and if their goal scoring records in this championship are anything to go by, then I can safely make the following predictions: 1. The Super Eagles will not lose in Nairobi; 2. The team will win the match if Amodu manages to find a suitable playmaker for the team. Rabiu could just be that player!
On the other hand, I can also predict the following: 1. Tunisia will not beat Mozambique in Maputo; 2. The best the Tunisians can get away with is a draw but I don’t see even that happening; 3. With a little bit of luck Tunisia will be beaten.
These are not wishful thinking. They are what I firmly deduce from the facts and from history. In the end I still see Nigeria scrapping through with a slim win over Kenya and Tunisia losing to Mozambique. So help me God!
