Ghana vs. Nigeria: Bonke twin tasks of filling Ndidi‘s boot and outwitting Partey is a hard act to follow
The Lorient star was picked ahead of Onazi as the best replacement for injured Ndidi but will he justify the confidence reposed in him by the national team handlers?
With Super Eagles midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi ruled out of Friday's Qatar 2022 World Cup playoffs against Ghana Black Stars in Kumasi due to injury, Interim Technical Director Austin Eguavoen has opted for one cap Eagles player Innocent Bonke as a replacement. Will Bonke outwit in form Thomas Partey in the Black Stars midfield?.. David Meshioye reports
Only those with hearts of stone will not empathize with Innocent Bonke the one cap Super Eagles player that has been invited to replace injured Wilfred Ndidi in the must-win Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Black Stars of Ghana.
In our country where football is number one, two and three when things that are of importance are ranked, an innocent mistake by Innocent on Friday in Kumasi or next Tuesday in Abuja will lead to national outrage and vilification by the Nigerian press and the masses
Let's ask Maduka Okoya about his rating with Nigerians after the Super Eagles match against Tunisia in the just concluded Afcon in Cameroon. A five-star performance will elevate to the status of football legends like Segun Odegbami, Austin Okocha, and others overnight.
Playing in the highly competitive French league Bonke has a child imbibe the culture of discipline and fearlessness from observing soldiers.
Nothing interest Bonke than saunter down the dusty road of Kaduna Military Cantonment to see the Army carry out their daily routine.
He would stop and watch until the school bell jerked him back to life. “I just enjoy watching them take orders from their superiors without much ado," he says.
Today, Bonke will be much more glad to listen when Super Eagles interim boss, Eguavoen bark out orders from the touchline
It is a rare event when the vibrant and diverse Nigerian sporting media sings universally from a hymn sheet. It happened, though, in the case of Eguavoen after erstwhile Super Eagles defensive enforcer, Onazi Ogenyi was selected as one of the few standbys.
The press raised their voices too high heavens questioning Eguavoen's decision to call up the former Trabzonspor midfielder when the likes of Bonke was ignored.
The press eventually won after all and the Lorient star was picked ahead of Onazi as the best replacement for injured Ndidi.
The reason was that Super Eagles need a midfielder with much clout on the international stage, and Onazi is far from that at the moment after he joined Al Adalah FC, a second division club in Saudi Arabia.
Who is Bonke?
From time immemorial, it has been the norm in Super Eagles to see makeshift midfielders struggle to fill a void left behind by top-notch midfielders either due to retirement, injuries or card suspension, but Bonke is about to prove an exception to that rule.
For a player who got his skills honed in wasteland paper bags while playing on the streets of Kaduna alongside Moses Simon, playing for Super Eagles is a lifetime opportunity that should not be toyed with. The decision to move to Lillestrom and Malmo in the Norwegian league has helped his game to a large extent. He has been knocked into becoming a midfield all-rounder with drive, industry, the deftness of touch and shooting power.
Bonke was influential when Malmo welcomed European champions, Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League. The Nigerian covered every single blade of grass and disrupted the rhythm of the European champions with his timely tackles, interceptions and blocks. It was like watching Ngolo Kante play.
Little wonder, the Malmo midfielder has been one of the Swedish club’s best players this season after he featured in all 7 games at the UEFA Champions League this season.
This stone-faced warrior defensive midfielder offers great strength in the air with immense athletic balance. That explained why former Super Eagles gaffer, Gernot Rohr handed him a chance against Cape Verde in Praia, where he shone like million stars.
Bonke versus Partey:
Ndidi's injury could be a blessing in disguise for Eguavoen who is in dire need of a thorough breed midfielder. But fate has offered him Bonke; a midfielder that is built for efficiency, someone who does the team's dirty work with all the diligence he can muster, holding the team together with his ball-winning, covering and simple passing. Behold, Bonke might just be the key to Nigeria's secret weapon to silence the in-form Thomas Party on Friday.
Partey is a world-class midfielder who is known to rise to the occasion when it matters, but how well he can operate without suspended Dede Ayew remains to be seen. But the Arsenal midfield will surely have his hands full against Bonke who will be out to cut supplies to Black Stars strikers.
Onazi and Etebo
Some schools of thought feel Onazi should have been an ideal replacement for Ndidi given his wealth of experience in that role, but the public outcry which objected to his being listed in the first place may have prompted Eguavoen to look for an alternative.
The Watford midfielder returned to active football after spending five months on the sideline due to injury. No one can question Etebo's quality on a good day but playing Ghana has come too soon for a player who is yet to hit his full gear.
His invitation also raised so much dust in the press, and he would return to take his place in the team when he regains full fitness
Another player that could have grabbed his long-awaited opportunity is Frank Onyeka but sadly, the Brentford midfielder has dropped in the pecking order of midfielders at the club.
Frank "The Tank" has only played for 14 minutes since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon after a sterling campaign in the first half of the EPL season. Fitness concerns owing to the lack of playing time also ruled him out of contention for a place in the Super Eagles squad that will face Ghana this week.
