The mantle of leadership has fallen on the 22-year-old forward at a crucial time almost by accident. Is he up to the task of leadership in war-time?
COMMENT By Solace Chuwku in Abuja
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With the revelation by coach Sunday Oliseh of captain
Vincent Enyeama’s unavailability, came the swift realisation that it is Ahmed Musa who will lead out the Super Eagles in Dar-Es-Salaam.
The CSKA Moscow forward will wear the band for the second time, having captained the team during March’s friendly with South Africa.
This is an altogether different proposition, however: this is no friendly. The dynamics of the group make the weekend’s game against Tanzania virtually a must-win—only one team qualifies outright; assuming a split decision over both legs between Nigeria and Egypt, the 2013 African champions must better the Pharaoh’s results over the other two teams in the group.
The player himself was typically calm during Wednesday’s media parley when confronted with this reality.
“I’m not under any pressure to lead the team. I did it the first time against South Africa and by the grace of God, we’re going over there to do our best. We’re training very hard, and we’re going over there for three points.”
The obvious question is whether he is indeed prepared to bear the figurative weight of the band. At 22, he is exceptionally young for the role, though that is not always a measure of a player’s readiness to lead.
In any case, he is now the most experienced player in the team; it falls on him almost by default.
In the absence of Vincent Enyeama, Musa will be charged with both leading the line and leading the Super Eagles out at the National Stadium
For an out-and-out forward to hold the captaincy is also unusual within the context of the national team. Having been led by towering defensive rocks in Christian Chukwu, Stephen Keshi and Uche Okechukwu, the baton passed on to current head coach Sunday Oliseh. Following the debacle of 2002, the mercurial Jay-Jay Okocha was forced to grow into the role in spite of his anarchical tendencies early in his career.
It helped that he shared the responsibility with Kanu Nwankwo, whose slight frame and languid grace belied a strong will and whose almost ascetic professionalism created a nice contrast. The two-time African player of the year settled deeper and deeper, using his vision and technique to build the play rather than finish moves.
The baton passed on to Enyeama, being the most experienced player. The trend is clear: the Super Eagles have generally had defenders and midfielders as captains. Considering seniority has always been a factor, it is interesting what this reveals: Nigeria has never had forwards consistently excellent enough to hold down a national team place for an extended period.
On a general level, it seems unusual for a defensive or counter-attacking team to have a forward as a leader: you would want
the captain in this set-up to organise the team and help it maintain compactness with vocal instructions.
Strikers as captains tend to work best for proactive teams, where they can urge the rest of the team on and lead by example. It may be an unwitting insight into coach Oliseh’s mindset going into the Tanzania tie.
Has Oliseh made the right choice in naming Musa captain?
This is the task that Musa must fulfil, and considering he has never been the most vocal, it is one he is suited to. His almost boyish eagerness will be the prompter for the rest of the side, and he will transmit calm to a group dappled with inexperience in several key areas.
Of course, whoever the designated captain, the burden of leadership is shared to a certain extent; and much of it will fall on fellow forward Anthony Ujah. The Werder Bremen man has had a rather unhappy time in the Super Eagles, though he was quick to emphasise his lack of goals did not constitute outright failure.
Whatever else he brings to the team, he will have to spearhead the attack; for a striker who does his best work in the penalty box, he has to start firing in order to justify his inclusion in the team. He seemed confident enough about the service he can expect from his team-mates.
“I’m very positive chances will not be a problem. We have players who can cause a lot of problems [for the opposition] from the midfield, as well as from the wings.”
One can imagine he had Musa’s pace in mind, among other things. Just as important as the leadership of Nigeria’s newest captain, will be the potential of a devastating link-up against Tanzania. A nation awaits with bated breath.
