AFCON 2021: Why Nwakali cannot start ahead of Aribo – Eguavoen

Super Eagles interim coach Augustine Eguavoen has given reasons why Kelechi Nwakali cannot start ahead of Joe Aribo in the team at the moment.

A section of Nigerian football fans have been calling for the Huesca midfielder to start ahead of Rangers star player Joe Aribo.

Kelechi Nwakali was the captain of the Golden Eaglets when they won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2015. He was the leader of the team that had Samuel Chukueze, Victor Osimehn and others.

In fact, he was the player of the tournament as he outshone everyone but his career has not been as successful as that of his mentioned U-17 teammates.

Hence, the reason he has not had the sort of success both Victor Osimhen and Samuel Chukwueze have had in the national team.

And coach Eguavoen knows this mentioned this and also literarily stated that ‘if it is not broken, don’t fix it.’

“More patience, I’ll say, and he’s been a fringe player in and out of the team, Eguavoen said after Nigeria’s game against Sudan,” as per Modo.

“And now we’ve given him the confidence to come in and not to start the game because Aribo has been there, good understanding with the team and of course with Ndidi in the middle of the park.

“Ndidi actually haven’t played with Kelechi, so it’s a little bit difficult to just change the team’s formation,” Eguavoen added.”

While Joe Aribo has had standout performances in both starts at AFCON, his replacement in both games Kelechi Nwakali has also helped dead the games.

Nwakali would be hoping he starts in Nigeria’s last group D game against Guinea-Bissau on Wednesday.