Galatasaray winger Henry Onyekuru will take the place of injured Samuel Kalu in Nigeria’s squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho, reports Completesports.com.
Kalu suffered a thigh injury in Girondis Bordeaux’s Ligue 1 clash against Dijon on Sunday.
Respected journalist, Colin Udoh confirmed the news on the social media on Monday.
“Galatasaray’s Henry Onyekuru @henryconyekuru will replace the injured Samuel Kalu in @NGSuperEagles squad for this month’s #AFCON qualifiers
#Team9jaStrong #SuperEaglesInsider #SuperEaglesBackInLagos,”Udoh tweeted.
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Onyekuru was one of the seven players placed on standby by Super Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr for the games.
The 23-year-old bagged a brace as Galatasaray defeated Kayserispor 3-0 in a Turkish Super Lig clash last Saturday.
The former Anderlecht star has scored five goals in nine league appearances since linking up with Galatasaray from Ligue 1 club Monaco on loan in January.
The Super Eagles will face Benin Republic at the Stade Charles de Gaulle, Porto Novo on Saturday March 27, before they welcome Lesotho three days later for their final game in the qualifiers.
By Adeboye Amosu
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COMMENTS
I would prefer Olayinka to Onyekuru.I think Olayinka should be well suited to the physical demands of African football.
Then that’s my opinion anyway,I’m only a fan and could be wrong with my judgement.
Hoping Onyekuru proves me wrong.Wishing the rest of the players injury free weekend,we need our full squad in good health for this epic battle.
Good luck super eagles!
@Greenturf… I personally agree with you, on Olayinka in place of Onyekuru, but the boss has decided so let us wait and watch. Olayinka has had a solid two consecutive seasons in Europe and his home league. Surely… he is at the door, just how long more is what we shall keep speculating…
THANK GOD FOR THAT, THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE BEEN CLAMOURING FOR.
OGA ROHR WE DON’T ONLY WANT REPLACEMENT ON BENCH BUT WE WANT TO SEE HIM ON THE PITCH PLAYING.
WITH ONYEKURU-OSIMHEN :NIGERIA 6 -LESOTHO 0
Wow this is ridiculous!
I know some people prefer Olayinka to Onyekuru but lets face it Onyekuru is a bigger goal threat…………… yes Olayinka has better work rate.
Nigerian football fans like to call for inclusion or exclusion of players they’ve not seen before. Some players we clamour for, like Olayinka have not achieved anything yet.
@Ako AMADI… I respect your views on Olayinka. But is scoring against Inter Milan, Leverkusen, terrorising Barcelona, Leicester city still not football at a good level? Who amaonsgt the present set of Eagles have actually featured in either Europa League or Champions League and how did they perfom… help us with an asessment. Let us know those who have achieved something by either winning their league or season-end awards in the last three seasons minus Osimhen`s exploits in Lille. Onyekuru did do ok on his loan spells in Galatasaray but he went to France and did not impress until he had to go back to Gala again now… see most of these players are truly at par, but some have positive team qualities than others…. my humble opinion though!
Dennis Bonaventure scored a brace against Madrid but does that make him “pele”? and Onyekuru plays in a better league………6 goals in 19 matches(Olayinka)-5 goals in 9 matches(Onyekuru)………..check the goal ratio between them this season…..the stats speaks for itself.
Hehehehehehe…awesome reply…! Even If they call you my clone, I am proud of you.
@Jones,agreed Onyekuru scored better but the argument is not about goals scored rather adaptability to African football,energy levels and physique of both players.
Onyekuru had his chances and was a disappointed,he seems not to thick with the super eagles just like he struggled in France.We need something new a different player with a different style.
If you watch videos of Galatasaray Onyekuru drafts into the centre forward a lot he supports the leading striker that’s why he scores goals for Galatasaray but with the super eagles it’s a different football because he has to track back a lot and as well attack from the left.We play wing football same as Monaco the reason he flopped.In my opinion Olayinka is used to the style the super eagles plays which apparently,is similar to how Slavia Praha plays.
When did Olayinka “terrorise Barcelona” and all these clubs you’ve named? I’m a fan of his and wish him well, also because of that rasta head. His time will come. Onyekuru, Simon, Osimhen, Sanusi, have all played Champ ions League previously. Check your files
@Ako Amadi… last season’s champions league 2019/2020… they were grouped with Inter, Barcelona and Dortmund. It was where he first checked-in with Nigerians… just check youtube, those games were seen by all live leading to comments and popularity with even Asisat Oshoala, One of the PSquare who even said a police man was harassing the guy at Lekki like a year or two earlier because of his dreadlocks and he witnessed the scene where the guy kept saying he plays football in Europe and the policeman would not believe. It was after the Barcelona game and how he tormrnted them in a 1-1 draw that the PSquare was shocked it was the same guy he has met at a Lekki police stop and search being harassed. He is to some of us a great team play with positive all-round body of game… he offers a lot in team play. He has played nonstop for two years! Try to watch him against Glassgow Rangers next… he has equally terrorised Leicester City dumping them out of Europa League in thealst two weeks…
I have never seen Olayinka playing for his club before, but I saw him play for Nigeria in 2019. Just like Dessers, the few minutes he spent on the field, he looked really promising with some flashes of brilliance. But that is not a guarantee that he will be a good National team material. There is still need to assess him more before final conclusion. If he continues doing well in his club, he will get another chance with the SE before the year runs out
This is an absolute disrespect to Olayinka. Considering the his performances in the last two season, ignoring him for a Monaco flop is absolutely ridiculous.
As one the fans that applauded the chance given to Sadiq. I think if Onuachu was left out for not taking his chances, the same rule should apply to Onyekwuru.
After all Belmadi’s boy was blabbering about top European league players the other day, I think a player that has demonstrated his capability in top European competition against the best for two seasons deserve the invitation more than a player that could not cope in French league. The more reason why Simon and Kalu are ahead of him in pecking order..
Another blunder from an award winning World class Coach..
Too much politics…
@Larry… be careful. There are Rohr’s snippers on the prowl on this forum o. Lol… they will even defend inviting nonplaying captains ahead of active players. Their views are often based on sentiments and using different fraudulent yardsticks for different players… if player_A farts it is a perfume, and if Player_B sprays perfume it is a smelly fart kind of logic…. hahaha. Watch for them… they lurk dangerously around like sharks waiting to open scary jaws.
Hehehehe…..we are not looking for a left wing back (LWB)….LMAO….we are looking for a left wing forward (LWF).
You have argued severally here that olayinka is not a forward but a LM. You even claimed he can play as a left back simply because he tracks back, and even posted highlights of Slavai vs Dortmund to back up your cliams….LMAO. In your ballon d’grammy lineup you even listed him as a wingback with a potential to drop back and join the defense as a left back.
So Just be patient, if Collins or Sanusi gets injured, we will draft Olayinka in….LMAO
let us just hope Rohr will be confident enough to start Onyekuru… let us see him a full debut against a physical team like Benin Republic. I hope Iwobi is not deployed on that left flank for lack of trust on Henry Onyekuru… we shall be looking to see how the setup turns out.
Whichever way the “dumb” coach sets up, it will never be as dumb as lining up Chuwkeze and Onyekuru as wingbacks ……LMAO
Onyekuru does not have the attributes of a wing back… Rohr does not play 3-5-2 often but 4-5-1 so no one needs to play an Onyekuru as wingback… but again, check definition of wing back from google… “it says preferably wide midfielders who have capability to defend and hold possessions, or natural wingers who have the capacity to run the channels for 90minutes and do good defensive duties… if Rohr wants a 3-5-2, he will play a Moses Simon instead of Onyekuru on the left flank… he is rightfooted so what stops a chukwueze doing same on the right? It the assumption is that players at that level though having a prefered foot, can equality use the other leg… that is why you are an inverted-winger… if chukwueze cannot use his at all then he has to be shunted in a wing back role… has Iwobi not played Left wing back this season? It is because at that level, a coach in the class of Ancelotti expects you to be comfortable with both legs… again as a defender, except you short in expected physical attributes… you expected to be handy anywhere across the back four… You will start paying money for explanation if you disturb me again… why understanding hard for you like this? What took Ola Aina to Left Centre Back in Fulham`s back three in a 3-5-2 that I uploaded for your eyes to believe yesterday? Just have energy to argue… I am on my laptop because I am an academic oga… make I send you 4 x 4 matrix make you help me do manual system stability analyses? Hahaha… no let me dull you up morer with science now o! Just go sleep… I say no show certificate again make church close!
“…can EQUALITY use the other leg…” CSN’s spelling bee champion thought he was infallible….LMAO. He thinks because nobody is that joblss to be monitoring spelling/grammatical errors here on CSN, he’s a perfect writer….LMAO. I am supposed to tear you to pieces with this but I wont dignify you that much time.
Sometimes you should read more of these your articles before you even open your dumb mouth to talk. If you had read it you wouldn’t be hoping “… Iwobi is not deployed on that left flank for lack of trust on Henry Onyekuru….”
Na common 4×4 matrices naim you still dey solve for 2021…LMAO…your mates dey solve 16 X 16 matrices. I generated a 32 square matrix to solve shock wave propagation during a missile-target explosion as far back as 2 decades ago. Go and learn programing languages and math softwares to make your life easy and stop being archaic. There are even programmable calculator all over the place that can deal fairly well with such problems. If you are dealing with a mechanically vibrating system try introducing damping factors here and there through calculated assumptions to reduce your matrix to manually solvable proportions in order to get some initial values which you can work with.
You dont belong to the class of people who can even see my certificate in the first instance…dumb heads like you at best can only hear of it. Face your academics and stop talking football that you dont know.
hmmmm… impressive. Thank God for google… you can just press a keypad on higher order square matrices as applied to engineering stability problems and come up with what brother DREY just babbled here now… If I wan catch you now, I go copy and paste wetin you just type and see your source from google but I no get time… hahaha. You must not try to impress me… You may be an engineerring graduate but brother… you no get kain from Netherlands… just go quietly make forumites forget this certificate matter wey hang for your head. You even have to make yourself sound old… making reference to two decdes back. You no even pass 35years for real life… go rest my friend! One love… we the always joke until you hit me below the belt last night… even at that I no even still take this whole thing serious!
Hahahahaha…I think say you say I no go school b4…LMAO. You think everyone is a dumb idiot like you. Oya copy am for google and see na. You will be lucky its not one of my publications google will even refer you too. With you type of low IQ, your brain will explode reading any of my publications.
And please Mr Spelling Bee champion…..what do you have to say about “…can EQUALITY use the other leg…” LMAO. One would ahve thought you are infallible the way you and your fake replica 1naija are busy picking up typos in comments rather than sense. You make 1001 and one errors here people arent just as stupid as your to be forensically scrutinizing imperfections in an informal online forum…..LMAO. Idiot has once again been caught red handed and wants to dodge it….LMAO
Mumu is still struggling with 4×4 matrices when 1st years are tearing it up in Finite elements analyses classes….LMAO. You cant even qualify to be a research student under me. I only need 2 minutes of interview with you to detect your low intelligence quotient.
Just admit you find my recommendations useful and move on you ungrateful Idiot…it takes nothing from you to acknowledge your inferiority in all ramifications to me….the field of engineering, academics, research, football, life….everything and anything…..except lies. An elephant is not something you can claim you saw walking past you in a jiffy…if you’ve seen an elephant admit you have seen an elephant.
Fool, go and paste it on google and see if you will make any headway as clear as what I suggested…..LMAO. You know road to google before naim you never solve am…?? Dumb idiot does not know its the work of people like us that makes google what google is…LMAO.
I dont need to prove anything to you…you are too stupid to waste such time on…..those who are sensible and observant on this forum have for long deciphered what Im made of and what my orientation is. Mumu people like you can go to Frankfurt to go get a seat on a plane to do so.
I know my friends and my friends know me, and they are not cheap liars.
@Dr.Drey… hahaha. I am free to make mistake I no get PhD like you. People here know it is a typo. Unlike you who still confuses Lair for Liar as a highly educated man wey you claim. Equality and Equally no near each other see peeps know I was jut typing fast to arrest your lies and unfounded accusations. This is nothing to do with being infallible but rather to arrest your claims… yes folks makes mistake and English is no one’s mother tongue here but your type wey claim to know all… we must check una! Infact I enjoy writing in pidgin… Goodnight and Sleepwell! But continue to fight with your keyboard as na your fulltime job be that…
Hahahahaha….I didnt know our young blooded Spelling Bee champion can also make mistakes while typing fast. But you also claimed you have 2 degrees….LMAO…how come with your 2 degrees you are still liable to making such grammatical blunder…not even a spelling error now. Unfortunately you and 1naija are 1 and the same, so since @jimmyball did not spot it, 1naija automatically too will not.
Liar/liar, you/your, recieve/receive, said/siad……all who read my comments often have spotted many of these sort of errors in my comments but are sensible enough to move on bcos of the peculiarity of this kinds of fora…but a useless idiot like you could only spot 1 all these years and that made you think you are the best and infallible ….LMAO….up until the devil decided to humble you just few minutes later….LMAO.
What an excuse you put out there….more like a conquered soldier pleading not to be taken as POW….. but just a while ago you were bragging you are better than me in all ramifications simply because you have taken pictures with Anthony Ujah….LMAO…..useless lowlife is humbly conceding defeat, now that his sins have caught up with him.
I dont give a damn if you dont sleep well, and its not your business if fighting with my keyboard is a fulltime job…….the strength is mine, the intellect is mine, the hardware is mine and the resources are mine. Focus on your miserable business and go work out a rehab plan that will help you reduce the frequency of your tendency to tell lies. i wont be surprised if you are a kleptomaniac too. Because the frequency, dexterity and shamelessness with which to tell lies is making the devil reconsider his position as the prince of hades…!
I wish the local lad Iwala was picked as the replacement,I think Iwala can bring something new to this squad, finidi did it in 1992 this boy Iwala can do the same thing, especially against this two average african teams, Benin and Lesotho. Iwala can unlock the compact Benin defense showman onyekuru can’t. Regardless the coach has spoken hopefully onyekuru can redeem himself.