Published March 11, 2021
• Amuneke , Dosu query Eagles coach ’ s decision
Johnny Edward
Genk striker Paul Onuachu has opted to keep mum over his standby role for this month’ s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin Republic and Lesotho, The PUNCH reports .
The Super Eagles travel to Port Novo to face the Squirrels at the Stade Charles de Gaulle on March 27 , before hosting the Crocodiles at the Teslim Balogun Stadium three days later in their final group fixture .
Many had expected Onuachu to be included in the squad for the games , having shone in the Belgian topflight division for Genk .
The 26 – year -old has 26 goals in 30 games , with three assists across all competitions this term .
The Nigerian has more league goals than Borussia Dortmund’ s Erling Haarland , Lionel Messi, Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah, so far this season.
Instead , coach Gernot Rohr included captain Ahmed Musa, who has been without a club in the last five months for the qualifiers .
“ It ’s the coach ’ s decision and I respect it , he has the final say and there ’s nothing I can do to it but I will do my best at all times and always fight to represent my fatherland , ” Onuachu told The PUNCH .
The decision has , however, infuriated one of Onuachu’ s intermediaries, who believes placing the Belgian top division top scorer on standby for the AFCON qualifiers was disrespectful .
“ The reality is that he ( Onuachu) is up there with the strikers listed for the qualifiers , if not in better shape and form than them ,” our source said .
“ It is disrespectful listing him as one of the standby players for the game. It would have been better to leave him out completely than placing him on standby.
“ With which criteria was Musa included in the squad ?”
Meanwhile, former Eagles players have faulted Rohr’ s decision to place the most prolific Nigerian striker on standby for the games .
Emmanuel Amuneke , 1995 Africa Footballer of the Year and a former assistant coach with the Eagles insists Onuachu deserved a place in the squad for the qualifiers .
“ There ’s not genuine reason to leave Paul ( Onuachu) out of the team based on his current form . There will be moments that his characteristics will be used to exploit weaknesses of their opponents .
“ I don’ t really understand why he was placed on standby because for me ideally Ahmed Musa doesn ’t deserve a place in that team because he has been without a club since October last year .”
Ike Shorunmu added, “ I really don’ t understand why he was left out for these games based on his form , but that ’s the coach ’s choice and we must respect it because he dictates the tune. ”
Dosu Joseph on his part said the German ’s decision to leave out Onuachu justified his earlier comments on the calibre of coaches handling our national team .
“ What is the criteria for leaving Onuachu out of the team ? These coaches won ’t cease to amaze me , ” he said.