As the news of the strikers’ international submission came, it caught everyone unawares as no one would have expected the player to call the shot on his international carrier that soon.
Some may say he should quit and some are quiet as a cautious measure as they are not sure if it was the right decision to make at a point in time that we have already loss the team captain Vincent Enyeama to the same retirement.
Whichever way it may be, positive or negative there are still some strikers available and ready to go bearing in mind that Nigeria is not bereft of talent especially in the attacking positions. Possibly these strikers are likely to benefit from Emenike retirement from the national team.
On this note SoccerNet Nigeria takes a look at five strikers who can benefit from Emenike retirement from the Super Eagles.
OLARENWAJU KAYODE
The young speedy forward is a bright talent who could benefit from Emenike International retirement. The striker is not new to the Nigerian football terrain as he had already featured for the junior team notably in the U-17 in 2009, U-20 twice in 2011 and 2013 scoring a superb goal in the round of 16 against Uruguay to the delight of the match commentator.
Though Nigeria lost out 2-1 to the South American but the moment of ecstasy following the goal was worth it as Kayode captured our mind and restored parity for the flying eagles at 1-1.
On the club level the striker moved over to one of Austrian-Bundesliga giants Austrian Wien and is among the top in the league scores with 5 goals to his name. The young forward had already improved his game as he had made a mark in Israel by guiding Maccabi Netanya to the top flight.
With his current form the striker is certainly one of those who deserve a look in the National Team set up.
EMEM EDUOK
The speedy left footed forward have already announced himself on the local scene a couple of months ago. The Akwa-Ibom born forward reach one of his high points when he scored double hat trick (6 goals)in the 6 -1 defeat of Sharks of Port Harcourt in the league.
He finished second on the league scores chart behind Mfon Udoh with 20 goals to his name and won the most valuable player in the Nigerian FA cup as he also scored in the finals as his club Dolphins lost to Enyimba 2-1 in the finals.
Eduok talent have not been in doubt as he wowed home fans in his native home in the international friendly win over Ghana at the Akwa-Ibom Stadium known as the “nest of champions” as he scored the only goal of the game and underlying his attacking credential. He moved to Esperance in Tunisia and has already lightened up the league with massive contributions, scoring goals and providing assists.
A lot of clubs are monitoring his services and a possible returns to the team on a regular basis beckons for the Esperance hit man.
BROWN IDEYE
The forward who formed lethal partnership with Emenike in attack in the Afcon 2013 triumph had a dip in form and was left out of Nigeria world cup squad. A surprise move to the English premiership to West Brownish Albion with then a record fee of 9 million came through for Brown Ideye with the delight of many Nigerians but the young man struggled in England possibly due to adaptative measures, price tag pressures and injury at some point in the league.
He required the encouragement of compatriot and former Baggies forward Nwankwo Kanu to make a mark at some point early in the year and was recalled for international duty for the friendly against Uganda and South Africa in Nigeria (Nest of Champions) and in South Africa (Nelspruit) respectively only for him to miss out to injury.
He moved over to Greece Giants Olympiakos and seems to discover his scoring touch as he registered his name on the score sheet for three consecutive game with the latest against Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia as Olympiakos won 1-0. A performance of that quality will certainly tilt the heart of Nigeria coach towards his direction for a possible call up to the national team fold.
ABIOLA DAUDA
The Nigeria forward who spent massive eight years in the lesser league for Serbia Side Red Star Belgrade moved to Vitesse Arnhem in the summer of 2014 and won the heart of home fans with his first hat-trick in the league earning the praise of his manager and drawing comparison to Ivorian forward Bony Wilfred.
The striker have always been a hot property in Europe as interest for his services over the years grew due to his blistering performances but the red tape rule (work permit) fluffed all his potential moves. He was blighted by injury towards the second part of last season but now he is back with the goals this season.
The forward pace and trickery are his strength and playing in the Dutch Eredivise have offered him the opportunity to fine tune his attacking style. A chance in the National Team to fill the void left by Emenike cannot be underestimated for Dauda.
AARON SAMUEL
Aaron Olanare Samuel was widely known as the Chinese product during his invitation to the national team by former Super Eagles gaffer Stephen Keshi. Some referred to him as Tokunbo and many wondered why a Chinese based forward was called up to the National Team in place of the in-form Villarreal man Ike Uche.
Criticism was intense in Nigeria for Keshi as Nigerians questions his decision, but one of the players who deserve a return to the striking position is Aaron Samuel, “the Chinese breed” Scored a goal against Sudan in between Ahmed Musa’s brace to ensure that Nigeria won 3-1.
However, that did little for the Chinese based player as many felt it was just a fluke, but with his second goal which was a classy curling effort against Congo in Pointe Noire, now then was it was enough to underline his credentials as a National Team materials coupled with interest from Champions league club CSKA Moscow.
The time is now to return the Chinese based striker back to the team to possibly add competition to the forward line that boasts of Musa and Ighalo.
Obiweluozo Martins for SoccerNet Nigeria
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