Lorient midfielder Innocent Bonke has been called up as replacement for the injured Wilfred Ndidi, ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifying playoffs between Nigeria and Ghana, Completesports.com reports.
Ndidi picked up a knee injury in Leicester’s Europa Conference League game with Rennes.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers confirmed Ndidi’s injury in his post-match, after the Foxes advanced into the quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1.
Also Read: Turkish Super Lig: Kayode Bags 5th League Goal In Sivasspor’s Home Win
Ndidi, who was in Leicester’s starting eleven against Rennes, had to go off in the 60th minute after sustaining the injury.
And following the injury setback, Bonke has now been called up to replace the Leicester midfielder.
Bonke made his debut for the Super Eagles on 7th September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde, which ended a 2–1 in favour of the Eagles.
He has made seven league appearances for Lorient since joining them in the January transfer from Swedish club Malmo.
By James Agberebi
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COMMENTS
Good development, God bless Nigeria, God bless super eagles, I wish Ndidi quick recovery
You GUYS are now HAPPY abi?
WE don’t want any EXCUSE O!(na becos NDIDI no PLAY)
You GUYS must THRASH GHANA HOME and AWAY
Such an idiotic post.
Well done eguavoen.
This is a good news.
Nigeria is such a funny place. Where rubbish plays out in broad daylight and people pretend as if everything is normal. If this Bonke – like we all know is the automatic replacement for Ndidi, then what is Onazi doing on the standby list?
If this was the real world cup list, and Ndidi got injured, this is how we would have gone to the tournament with a player who has played no meaningful games in the past 3 years; who by the way was already well past his relevance to the national team as at the time of the last World Cup in 2018 – going by his performance in the friendlies.
Nigeria really needs help. We can’t be taken seriously when we clearly enthrone parochial sentiments ahead of the national interest.
Isn’t that the same thing we are doing to the coaching team? When last did any of these coaches coach any team? Suddenly, they are at the helms of SE management, crashing out to ordinary Tunisia. Now they are boasting to beat Ghana!
My friend the injury of Onazi in that round of 16 game that was why we were knocked out He was a good DM player just that his days are over with the national team.
Goodness gracious ….lol onazi is the reason why we crashed out of the world cup…chei why are we like this. Round of 16 means you are referring to Brazil 2014, 8 years ago! You referring to the form of a player 8 years ago, it is well. Whilst we are At it , we should recall Sunday oliseh, who was pivotal to Nigeria winning the afcon 1994.
That was 2014 World Cup. He’s talking about 2018 World Cup.
He said round of 16, Nigeria did not get to the round of 16 in 2018. GERRIT?
That was 2014, when he was still good and critical to the Eagles. Not 2018 (4 years ago!) when he had clearly lost as evidenced by his performance in the pre-tournament friendlies, especially the match against England when he was so out of pace.
By the way another local coach messed up the 2014 squad, by taking a very poor Rueben Gabriel to the tournament as direct sub for Mikel and Onazi, which led to our ouster in the second round.
They have started again with another local coach!
CSN this happened in the morning but you just giving us in the late afternoon, though you guys are trying but it’s just not enough
Welcome onboard the DM Marshall, Innocent Bonke!
Pls our players should be very sharp, quick and careful with their tackles to avoid a red card (Iwobi’s AFCON scenario readily comes to mind).
Whoever the coaches select to play especially at the defense and midfield must be very quick and proactive with an extra eye to quickly release those unsuspected passes for your attackers to prey.
Our attackers are always ready. Pls defense and Midfield sit very tight and play these games for us. Thanks.
Goodluck SE and Coaching Crew (CC)!!!
I have watched his game and he is indeed very good. In fact, Bonke is even better than Ndidi so he’s never a surprise addition.
Did you watch his game against Cape Verde during the WCQ in Cape verde? He was not great in that game. Kinglsey Michael that played with him in that game was much better than him. He needs to work hard.
His a box to box player like Makelele, his style is different. Give him a show.
Having Aribo, Amoo and Bonke in the midfield will be electrifying. Good job coach Eguavoen.
Great news shouldn’t have been news if things were done rightly. INNOCENT BONKE was supposed to be on the main list. So I will drop my first XI
Maduka, Aina, Omeruo, Semi Ajayi, Zaidu, Onyeka, Bonke, Aribo, Dennis, Osimhen, Chukwueze
Stupid line up. where u put moses simon our best player at afcon
You wanna murder blackstar with this kinda starting line up. Kindly be patient.
bad line up. where is Moses, where is lookman?
Thank God is your own line up, how on Earth will you bench Moses for Dennis.
Na wa ooo… What kind of selection is this?
Let me help you!
Okoye, Balogun Basey,Zaidu, Shehu, Bonke, Aribo, Amoo, Moses, Osimehin, Chukwueze.
We need players that are playing for their various clubs week in week out.
Ndidi is likely on his way out of the Super Eagles. The good thing is, we have a better player in Bonke. God bless Nigeria.
One good thing about bonke Is that he doesn’t leave his area,a hard marker and wins the hall easily,don’t know he wasn’t in the list initially.onazi has passed his prime,he is now a ghana material
The very best is what we have always told the super eagles coach to present. Nice one, Cerezo. Good luck Bonke my boy.
Yeeeeees, we are good to go. Killer is invited, kill them all. I love his confidence, tenacity, stability in the defense. This guy is going to make the team from here, believe me. This is a great news
Ndidi was actually the missing and majorly the cause of the goal against poor okoye who had to bare the troubles. We wish him speedy recovery but must be ready to retire. Welcome Bonke dear.
***GOOD NEWS
BY GOD’S GRACE, NEXT GOOD NEWS WILL BE:
***”DESSERS REPLACE IGHALO”
AMEN OOO
INFACT THAT GUY IS TOO MUCH. I WATCHED HIS GAME AGAINST AJAX AMSTERDAM. HE HAS GREAT POTENTIALS
Amen O..
Honestly, I just can’t wait for us to cap him fully. I just we qualify for the WC and he makes the team. That guy is really something.
There’s greatness in him that’s waiting to explode. I really can’t wait.
Let Ighalo just help us qualify and tell us bye bye.
With Bible, it is a complete team.
My starting 11 goes thus…
Keeper Okoye
Defenders: Ekong, Balogun, Aina and Zaidu
Midfield: Aribo, Bonke and Amoo
Forwards: Odion, Osimhen and Lookman.
Correction …With Bonke
If there’s one player who can actually go bone to bone with Partey Bonke is that player. He was one of the reasons we beat Cape Verde away. His combo with Kingsley Michael in that game was a delight to watch. Ghana’s strength is their midfield and if we can match them there the games are as good as won.
Exactly, you too much
It’s not only Partey in Ghana’s midfield. SE need to be equally mindful of Mohammed Kudus of Ajax Amsterdam midfield. The guy is capable of taking long direct shots so should be closed down in midfield and not given space to shoot.
Ghana have mediocre strikers who cannot breach SE defence, so will be trying shots from far and try their luck!
SE defence and midfield should be very alert throughout the 90minutes and never lose concentration, no matter Ghana’s antics in Kumasi.
Nigeria SE is by far better than Black stars of Ghana currently, and that is FIFA’s verdict placing Nigeria at 32nd position to Ghana’s 61st position. Nigeria is 3rd best in Africa, whilst Ghana is not even within the first 10th.
Yes, form does count, even on rival derby!
@ Micheal u Sabi ball Wella….that’s wot we need against Ghana,DM who won’t cross the center circle. Bonke can maintain his DM position. I see him pairing Etebo and Aribo
This development has really exposed the NFF and Eguaveon. Why was he not in the team in the first place? Why was Onazi on standby list when it was clear he won’t be useful? Why would they have to go in search of a player who was not in the team at all when there was a player they thought was better in Saudi Arabia Division 2? It simply shows these guys know the right thing to do, the right players to invite, but they won’t just do it. They are the reason the Super Eagles have been struggling over years. We have a bunch of corrupt, very insincere people at the Glass House, who are more concerned about their pockets and not the country’s future.
As long as you don’t have money for bribery or someone up there, just forget the national team.
I watched Ajax – Feynoord a few minutes ago, Dessers was a menace to Ajax’s defence. He caused them so much troubles and in fact, assisted the two goals scored by Feynoord. For crying out loud, why is that guy not in the team to play Ghana? Eguaveon said he is yet to watch him play in his team and yet to have a conversation with him. Has he gone to France to see Bonke play before inviting him before this belated, ignominious invitation? How many players in his team did he personally visit before calling them to the national team? If he needs to talk to Dessers, all he needs is the boy’s contact. If he needs to see him play, all he needs is a decoder and a televisionat home. What is really wrong with us in this country that we are so incapable of doing the right thing?
Can someone justify the rationale behind Ahmed Musa being selected ahead of Nwakaeme? If current form is the criterion for selection, (and of course why wouldn’t it be), kindly compare their stats in Turkish league and see who deserves a national team call up. This is exactly what Keshi did in 2014, loadimg his WC team with half-baked players like Rueben Gabriel, Ejike Uzoenyi, Azubuike Egwuekwe, Kunle Odunlami, Micheal Uchebo and even Chigozie Agbim. Where are these players now? It’s more painful when you think of the players sacrificed for these guys that year. Players like Obafemi Martins, Ikechukwu Uche, Chinedu Ogbuke and Brown Ideye were in all in good form but were all chopped off to give way for the players earlier mentioned. We are back to that era, I think, because the signs are there. It’s so so unfortunate.
Local Coaches for you bro!!!
Sometimes when people advocate for foreign coaches, it looks as if its some kind of inferiority complex, but time and time again our people show themselves incapable of resisting the temptation of corruption. Its as if there is something in the Nigerian air, that just makes us mishandle responsibility at every given critical time.
May God save us!!!
It
Hmmmm, it worrisome, doing the right thing could’ve move our football forward beyond expectations. For example if not for MIR test we would have still be presenting those old cargoes for under 17. Which after playing under 17 competition they won’t be useful for national team, buh see the positive effect of presenting right age for those u17 competition. Another one is our league, the people that supposed to be playing Nigeria league are supposed to be young people. Our league supposed to be where every scout want to come, where we showcase the talents in this nation. And at the end it will yield better result in terms of growth and money making, buh something will not just allow us to do the right thing. When you look at USA 94 team you will know how much talents we have in this nation. Then, when we talk about super eagles invitation of players became by slot. They have corner every department to make sure Nigeria football do not grow. Thanks to MRI, if you look at our u17 teambthis days, it will also tell you how much talents we have in this nation, these u17 teams is just fraction of what we have in this nation. We have all that it takes to be the best in Africa and to compete with the best in the world. We are meant to be boasting of finishing 3rd place in world cup, since USA 94, if we had developed from there. Many things to say.
@Papafem, I do agree with you on Bonke’s exclusion, they obviously knew the right thing to do but corruption would not permit them. One can ask why shehu is in the team also. Having said that, I must say ,I disagree with you on dessers; he is a player I like and want in the team but you can not fault the technical crew on this one. All the strikers listed have better stats than dessers.Ighalo’s stat is better, Osimhen is better and definitely Sadiq’s stat is better than his. In fact if you are to drill down further , Onuachu and Awoniyi stats are better than his. In fact, Onuachu benched all season so there is no injustice there, there are a lot of players ahead of him and he would have to work really hard to get into the team.
@ Golden Child, do you know we don’t have in this team a player in the mould of Dan Amokachie? A player who keeps the opposing defence busy and create chances for his fellow strikers? A player who makes our opponents work hard by forcing errors from time to time? Amokachie provided that extra edge going forward, making Westerhoff not to rely entirely on wing play to win games.
We went flat when Tunisia clipped our wingers in Caneroon. But I don’t see this happening during Westerhoff era because we have Amokachie or Siasia giving us that leverage from the middle of attack, creating spaces for Yekini to exploit.
I see a bit of these qualities in Dessers. He may not be supremely talented like other strikers that we have, but he’s got the tenacity, doggedness and requisite skill to hold up play, create space for himself and other strikers and keep opposing defenders busy, especially in counter attacking situations. Besides, we need to cap him and secure his international team future. 30 something minutes of a friendly game isn’t enough to access, to be honest. Onuachu. Awoniyi, Olaitan and Sadiq have all gotten their fair share of look-in, why not give this guy a chance too?
That’s a recurring theme in our Super Eagles – the list is released, a main player gets injured and a totally different player outside of the 30+ list is called up to replace the main player. Laughable!!! I understood how the SE’s business works with local coaches during the 2014 WC with Keshi. They select 12-14 main players on merit and then sell the remaining slots to agents. Hence, the reason some of us are against local coaches. At this point, Pinnick has his slots, Eguavon has his and so on. Let’s hope we qualify.
Very very laughable. You submitted provisional list of 30 players including standby list incase of injury.now some of the players are injured and you couldn’t pick any of the player from the your standby list and you say such a coach knows what he is doing. Did we ever seen that during Rohr era? This is not the first time it is happening in this Eguavon time, he did the same thing during last nations cup. This show he is clueless and confused and he said he knows his first eleven. Has he now watch Bonke playing for his club before inviting him? Mtcheeeew.
@papafemi you didn’t add John ogu and sunday mba to the list of players that were sacrificed for those useless players by Keshi.
The ogu of 2014 is far better than 2018.
Good news. Well Nigerian coaches need to correct the bad impression about them. Eguavon just messed up with onazi on standby list. That was criminal offence.
Bonke is strong, good but he need to add smartness to his game.
For me, I can not invite someone like Bonke into my team if am the coach of the Super Eagles. He is very rough.
He can get a straight red card in any match. That is the one area Bonke need to improve on. If he can improve on that then he’s a super Eagles material.
I still preferred Nwobodo to Bonke. That Nwobodo is a utility player and smart as well but the coaches of the Eagles are confused because of corruption.
However, against Ghana, I can only count on Osimhen. That is the only striker we have in that team but can he do it alone?
Ighalo is minus one in that team. He can’t match the tempo of the match against Ghana. If you are in doubt, go and watch Nigeria vs Cape Verde match.
I am saying this because of what I saw of him playing against Cape Verde.
The coaches are not yet ready for Super Eagles.
When they are ready, each and everyone of us will know that yes, these people are ready. All these Ighalo, Akpeyi, Alloy Agu and Onazi thing can’t take Super Eagles to any where.
This is the time we need our best players to represent Nigeria. We have Musa, Balogun, Moses Simon in the team so, what experience NFF and the coaching crew are looking for?
Who is helping Osimhen at his club? So, he is not smart enough as a striker? Where was Ighalo experience at the last world cup against Argentina and Cape Verde in Lagos? We are lying and deceiving ourselves if we don’t know Nigerians.
Instead to put up a young vibrant talented players together to conquer the black stars in Ghana and rule the world of football at the world cup in Qatar but Amaju, NFF and the coaching crew are not doing Nigeria a favor because of their nepotism.
If Super Eagles do not have aim of winning the world cup then what is the point of going to the world cup? To go there again to just make the numbers as usual? Africa, we still have a lot to improve on. Good luck
to Bonke. Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
@Omo9ja, I concur that Bonke has to be very clinical in tackle and avoid unnecessary rough tackles to avoid a red card. I mentioned that earlier!
Pls lets also play the antics game with Ghana, any little fowl against us, the player should lie down for a penalty.
That is my only concern about Bonke but to my surprise, we the fans can point out this but the coaches in charge of the team are not aware of that.
Azubuike is the perfect replacement for Ndidi or Nwobodo, not Bonke.
Bonke, am not comfortable with his decision making. Well, what do I know. Good luck to Super Eagles against Ghana. God bless Nigeria!!!
@ Omonnaija I noticed this as well. But he seems to have improved since coming to France. I’ve watched two of his games, and he looks really decent. Let’s even say he’s not good enough for the national team. But is Onazi better? A player who is yet to play any meaningful football since 2018? What are these guys turning the national team into? A rehabilitation centre? Why not try players like Azubuike or Nwobodo as you suggested? But no! Eguaveon would have to travel to Turkey, watch them play and have a conversation with them before extending invitation. So annoying.. mtcheewwww!
Well spoken @Papafem. No worries then if he has improved on that.
More so,
I read it some where today that Ademola Lookman is not fully fit. If so, coach Eguavoen should not rush Lookman.
The coach should replace Lookman with Dessers since we have Moses Simon, Chukwueze and Dennis in the team.
We have to get the job done in Ghana if we have to qualify for the World Cup.
A draw against black stars of Ghana is not acceptable in Ghana with the array of star studded in the Super Eagles.
We need to win in Ghana first and finish the job in Abuja Nigeria. That is the way to go my people. God is in control. God bless Nigeria!!!
You guys are funny. So if you are at the helm of affairs, you will hurriedly throw Amoo to the party. That’s not how football works. You will mess him up. Mind you, this is his maiden call-up and he’s an upcoming player with no international experience. The eagles advantage over the Black stars currently is TEAM. We need to main our current set up. Unfortunately, Ndidi won’t be playing. Lookman, Amoo and Dennis should all start from the bench.
Gbam!, good job coach Egu, very good decision. He is even stronger than Ndidi, very tenacious. Innocent Bonke is not very innocent.
Good call. I see Bonke as a direct replacement for Ndidi. Me as a coach will give him a place ahead of Etebo and Onazi.
Imagine Frank Onyeaka and Bonke as two-4, Aribo getting a free role, Partey misfiled will do the chasing, with the striking force of Simon, Victor O. And E. Dannis, I see us beating Ghana 2-0 in front of their fans.
Bonke is a good player.. the french league is one of the best in the world and he plays 90mins in all the games.. infact he is the reason Lorient will survive relagation this season. Before the transfer to Lorient they were struggling and conceding lots of goals but it is now harder to score against them.
Ndidi’s injury might actually be a blessing in disguise, he is the only player that can fully compete with ndidi, and if he plays well, he should be retained in our future games.
My only fear for the game on Friday is our right back position, aino has not played for a very long time ( since after the Afcon) and shehu is the only other option at the right back position.. ebuehi is back,he played today and should have made this list..
Honestly I’m tired of talking about Nigeria and it’s affairs because the corruption is overwhelming.Our leaders never do right because they don’t have our interests at heart. They are only after their selfish interests and they would sacrifice our growth and success for their personal gains with corrupt practices.It is so sickening no matter how much we talk, these bunch of corrupt politicians will never change for the better. They’re evil and demonic, they would rather prefer to fail than succeed as long it’s bringing money to their pockets. I’ve given up on the country and it’s affairs because i do no longer expect anything good from these lots of corrupt politicians. You can’t be doing the same thing over again and expect a different result.
A Ghanaian informant and girlfriend of mine who is close to the Ghana football authorities has leaked some of the players on the list that are to feature for Ghana in the Kumasi/Abuja playoff games gainst Nigeria. Please don’t ask me how she got hold of it. I hope coaches Eguavoen/Amunike and Salisu Yusuf are made aware of this. The main players on the secret list for Ghana include:
Mohammad Kudus (an attacking midfielder with Ajax Amsterdam); Daniel Kofi-Kyereh of St.Pauli (an attacking midfielder/striker in the current league leaders in Bundesliga 2 in Germany; Thomas Partey, midfielder of Arsenal and captain of the team; Felix Afena-Gyan of AS Roma in Italy (attacker/forward); Jeffrey Schlupp (midfielder/forward with Crystal Palace in London). These are the main players for the current Ghana team on the leaked list. Injury concerns seem to prevent the following from featuring in the games for Ghana as follows: Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace(battling covid); Abdul Baba Rahman (left back defender with Reading in England who is battling fitness /thigh injury concerns and is doubtful for both games); Kamaldeen Sulemana, winger with Rennes in France who has a stress fracture injury and is also doubtful for the matches); new invitee (Aintoine Semenyo of Bristol City who is currently also injured) and Abedi Ayew (the captain and probably most experienced player in the team who has a red card suspension from the playoffs). On a final note, Nigeria and Ghana are brothers and sisters that share similarity in culture and many other things. This should not be seen as a war but as a game between two friends or two brotherly nations trying to get a ticket to the next world cup in Qatar.
Please pass on this list to Eguavoen/Amunike /Salisu Yusuf coaching crew). Thanks
Who told you that Nigeria and Ghana are like two brothers? Go to their online platforms and see how they call Nigeria and Nigerians all kinds of dirty and hurtful names.
I was just looking at Innocent Bonke statistics, so funny one. He has never scored for any European club he played for since 2014. Shows he just focus on his defensive midfield duties and not concerned about offensive atall. He is strong with tackling though just like a typical Oliseh. He is a kind of player that will be good in throwing killer passes from behind for strikers to score if he is fully utilised. Oliseh was a master in creating killer passes for Yekini in those days.
Good luck to the eagles