Tobias Lawal
As Austria prepare to trade tackles with France in one of the first-round matches at the 2024 European Championship in Germany, former Super Eagles invitee Tobias Lawal will make one of two choices.
One, watch the game from a TV screen or two, refuse to watch the Austrians play without him having not fully healed from the hurt that comes with missing the biggest showpiece on the continent.
After an impressive season with LASK in the Austrian Bundesliga helping the club qualify for the Europa League, Lawal would have been quietly hoping he would get a chance to feature at the Euros this year.
It gets better.
Head coach Ralf Rangnick got Lawal dreaming when he named the goalkeeper in Austria’s 29-man preliminary squad for the European Championship in May.
Austria had never made it past the Round of 16 at the continental and it would be an unforgettable career high point to be a part of a squad that looked poised to rewrite the history books in Germany.
Sadly, Lawal’s dream was deflated when on June 7, Ralf Rangnick announced his final 26-man roster that had cut out Lawal and two others.
Rangnick decided to go with Union SG goalie Heinz Lindner, Rapid Wien shot-stopper Niklas Hedl, and Brøndby’s Patrick Pentz. Together, the three have a combined 44 international caps while Lawal is yet to make his senior debut.
It is, however, not the first time Lawal has endured international disappointment.
While preparing for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, then-Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr eyed Lawal as he was looking for a long-term replacement for Daniel Akpeyi.
In September 2020, ahead of Nigeria’s two international friendlies against Algeria and Tunisia in Austria, Rohr invited Lawal to train with the Super Eagles.
Filled with joy, Lawal, only 20 years old at the time, honoured the invitation and trained for days with the Super Eagles before he was hit with a piece of sad news.
The young goalie was told, just before the match, that he would not be registered for the friendly matches because Austrian law reportedly forbids dual citizenship.
As he was already in possession of an Austrian passport, Lawal could not be issued a Nigerian passport, effectively ruling him out of consideration for the Super Eagles.
That is unless he leaves his country of birth, Austria, to play for a club in another place where the citizenship rules are more liberal.
Four years after that incident, Lawal is still with Austrian club LASK Linz, becoming an integral part of the first team.
Born in Linz to a Nigerian father and an Austrian mother, Tobias Okiki Lawal remains eligible to represent the African and European nations.
Nigeria are not presently looking to invite new goalkeepers to the national team, with Stanley Nwabali, Maduka Okoye, Francis Uzoho, and Olorunleke Ojo providing enough cover in that department.
That stance may change soon, however, following the latest directive by the Sports Ministry to the Nigeria Football Federation to scout more talented players for the Super Eagles following questions raised about the commitment of the present bunch.
However, Lawal must also be keen on moving to clubs outside of Austria and getting a Nigerian passport if he still desires to play for the Eagles.
If his allegiance is now fully with Austria, the 24-year-old can wait for his chance when 33-year-old Heinz Lindner retires. And that could be after the next World Cup to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Lawal could fast-forward that progression, though, if he helps LASK Linz reach the latter stages of the Europa League and makes himself an irresistible asset for Nigeria and Austria.
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