Former Super Eagles midfielder, Austine Okocha believes the success of Senegal at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations rest on the shoulder of Sadio Mane.
Speaking on SuperSport, Okocha described the Liverpool star as the key player that can lead the Teranga Lions to glory in Cameroon.
He also said that Mane is a ‘tough nut to crack’ after the Liverpool star recovered from a concussion ahead of the Equatorial Guinea clash.
“Of course, his presence is needed in this Senegalese side because he is their talisman and he’s been leading the team as well in this tournament.
“But like we said no team is a pushover, you have to earn the right to win your matches, you have to do your job and you must understand that.”
Mane has been cleared to play for Senegal against Equatorial Guinea after suffering a concussion during their round of 16 victory against Cape Verde a few days ago.
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COMMENTS
Definitely please give your nephew a truthful Advice to go and Improve. Pride goes before a fall.
@Kenny don’t mind Okocha… He was on supee sport dragging position for his nephew who has refused to improve… Don’t worry it’s little Akinkunmi Amoo that is coming next to sit his ass permanently on the bench in Super Eagles… Iwobi has been in professional football for 7years now at the top level and still does not know his own strengths and qualities… He can’t tackle, can’t shoot… has low energy and end product is just alarming…. We have forgiven him for the reckless play that pitched is short against Tunisia same offence different consequence when compared to a good player like Sani Kaita. It’s well…
Iwobi is still our best number ten, the hatred for him has no basis, in that position he is better than aribo and iheanacho, he carrys The Ball fast, dribbles faster, link passes very well and runs faster, nobody is better than him in that position, he Has got alot assists and goals more than okocha and mikel obi if you calculate by number of games, nwobodo is The only yet to try guy, amoo will battle chuks in that right wing, There is no competion for Iwobi as number 10, apart from nwobodo that we are yet to see. @Jimmy, talking about shots The last shot a nigerian scored from outside The box was Iwobi goal against serrieleone in Benin, our biggest problem in football is shooting skills, i dont know how, but obviously we dont have it, holiseh finidi okocha tayetaiwo emenike obina nsofo and ogu are The only nigerians i can put 50 percent trust on shooting capability, as for these generation iwobi and etebo are putin in efforts to score from outside, ndidi? Iwobi shouldnt be The only one to be singled out for shooting capability, however The Guy Has got 9 goals and 7 assist in less than 50 games for The eagles, he was unlucky to be sent out of that game, his presents would have turn The tunisia gamę around, my personal advice for iwobi is to go to The french or italian league, that is how sanches of purtugal redeemed his carrear, these leagues appreciates playmakers for their general contributions to games unlike The English premier league where a playmaker is expected to score goals before he can be appreciated, i cant imagine a playmaker going into The field with The preasure of scoring goals that is quite abusive.
I don’t think he is better than Aribo in that position and Iheanacho has not played in that position for SE for a few games now. We need Michael Olise he is an Upgrade to Iwobi.
Collins id… You guys should think logically. Which one is hatred? What has Iwobi done at his club in that position in the last three years… Based on performance Iwobi should not even have gone to nations cup. The guy is weak… No one has time for a player that does not want to improve. Now Everton has signed Dele Alli… You think they will still be considering Iwobi as first choice anywhere in midfield?
Judging by how Iwobi started… By how he is not supposed to be a bit-part player in a modest team like Everton. When Iwobi was at Arsenal competing with the likes of Ozil, one could say yes he can do some job in that role… but beyond that he did not develop anymore… he has no goals in him and the earlier you stopped making excuses for the young man the better. He can still get there but until he starts showing it… no one will take him serious. If he is convincing when then were coaches managing Iheanacho in that role?
*By now he is not supposed to be a bit-part player anymore at Everton… *
Collins Id is right.Iwobi is the best playmaker we have in the team.
The mistake Dare made was the sack of Gernot Rohr who knows this boys like the back of his hand.
Going to an important tournament you don’t sack a coach who qualified a team for the competition because the coach knows his boys better and how to get the best out of them to win games,this was responsible for our loss to Tunisia.Eguavoen was clueless when faced with difficulties,an avoidable situation had the Nff given the freedom to run the affairs of football in the country by the sports ministry.
Rohr grinds out important results because he knows this boys so well and knows how to play each opponents with a tactical formation that will make playing against us hard though might not look very interesting to see but the end like they say justifies the means.
Iwobi’s best position is playing as a number 10 and I think he has had a remarkable super eagles career,he deserves to be lauded for his patriotism and commitment to the cause of his county.He has done well for Nigeria despite the huge challenges he has faced as a professional playing club football.
Like @Collins id rightly said Iwobi should move abroad where his game will be appreciated.