Nigeria defender Chidozie Awaziem is facing a fitness battle ahead of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, reports Completesports.com.
The Alanyaspor of Turkey player has been battling with hamstring injury since October.
The 25-year-old trained separately from his teammates during monday’s session inside the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
The versatile defender was sidelined for a week by a harmstring injury in October and missed a couple of games for Alanyaspor in December due to the same problem.
Awaziem is expected to play a key role for the Super Eagles in Cameroon after Leon Balogun was excluded from the excluded from the squad due to Injury.
Interim manager Austine Eguavoen will be hoping he is able to shake off the injury ahead of Nigeria’s opening game against Egypt on January 11.
19 Comments
By God’s grace he will be fine before the first match in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen
Hmm!!!
See why the stupid choice of 4 goalkeepers will come to haunt you…. There is no reason not to have an adequate back up in a 28 man squad but stupid decisions as having 4 goalkeepers robs you of an outfield player. We have a defensive crisis going into this tournament and these fools dropped akpogunma. Make Noble go play defences na……. On a serious note tho…. I think Ndidi can play CB if it gets too crazy.
If ndidi plays CB who plays DM, Frank? You might as well surrender the midfield to our opponents.
Even if Awaziem is unfit we still have options in omeruah and ajayi. Even Aina can play in a back three. But Ndidi has to remain im DM for the Super Eagles.
This is where bassey’s inclusion would have made sense.. a player who has played in central defense for more than a month should have provided enough cover for any injured defender.. if he can cover for a balogun he can cover for any defender in the team.. it is so surprising the coach did not consider him even at the second opportunity..
Ajayi has not played for over a month so I’m not so confident with his level of match fitness.. let this singular decision not come back to hurt us..
Hmmmm…I dey fear ojuju..I dey fear..!
Is it Omeruo that can only manage just two caps since the beginning of the season that we will now depend on or Ajayi that hasn’t played for more than a month? Or Olisa Ndah the Nigerian Rio ferdinand? Chaii..even Ighalo might not be available cos of the agreement he signed with his club.
Dessers and Bassey on mind.
I like this guy so much,such a brilliant player
He is a key in our defence line among all the guys in the back he is the most trusted
Get well soon, Awazzy.
We still have Ekong, Omeruo, Ajayi and Ndah.
Ndidi is also an option.
Hopefully, our attack will make up for any shortcomings in our midfield and defense. It is our attack that can win us the Afcon, if the strikers and wingers perform. However, the midfield and defense need to pull their weight as well. If we can just get a fair (not great or good, just fair) performance from the midfield and defense, and our attack is firing, the trophy is always possible.
Egu should include bassey of akpoguna no need going to a tournament with an unfit player when you have quality n fit players it can only happen in a corrupt state like Nigeria
If he plays n aggravate d hamstring that will be d end of him at d tournament,n if he decides to manage d injury he won’t give his 100% bcos of d injury no doubt he is a good player but taking such risk hmmm
Our options may be limited, but the Afcon trophy IS NOT a mission impossible.
With the right tactics that unleash the attacking potentials in the team, we can still get it right.
I think we need a hard-working double pivot to control the midfield and help protect the defense.
We have gifted wingers and strikers. They all need to be unselfish and work together. The wingers can use their pace and dribbling skills to raid the opponent’s vital area and obtain freekicks and penalties.
It’s also critical that the guys do not forget their scoring boots at the hotel. We will create chances, but that is of no benefit if we are not converting them.
I agree with you @POMPEI on THE STRONG DOUBLE PIVOT to sit in front of the back four and screen our defence.
Recall our analysis the other day on the TACTICAL OPTIONS available to CEREZO and my tilting towards the NDIDI/ONYEKA combo as double pivots in a 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1 formation.
Because of how rugged most African teams set up; we need those two hardworking battlers in the middle of the pack while any of ARIBALL or IWOBINHO (apologies to you if my memory serves me right) should be deployed as the ATTACKING/CREATIVE Midfielder. I will prefer ARIBO though. He is in better form and offers more goal involvements (scores and assists) than IWOBI.
Like you rightly say, we have the best front 3 combinations in AFRICA based on current form at the moment. The trio of CHUKWUEZE, EJUKE and AWONIYI on paper should offer more than what other nations have on offer.
Spot on, Mahmud Shuaib.
The Ndidi/Onyeka combo looks great.
The hardworking Frank The Tank will relieve Ndidi of some pressure, and allow him more room to show his quality.
Nwakali and versatile center back Semi Ajayi are the only alternatives to these 2 that are available. I wish we had either Obinna Nwobodo or Tom Dele-Bashiru in there to supplement.
A front 3 of Ejuke, Sadiq/Awoniyi, Chukwueze….if they are in form, we should be alright.
With Aribo or Iwobi playing as AM. Iheanacho can also do this job very well. We know how dangerous he is when he is deployed in “the hole” behind the main striker. The AM to possess the following characteristics:
1) Good at shooting from distance.
2) Comfortable on the ball.
3) Has an eye for the killer pass.
4) Decent in the air.
Iwobi excels at 2 and 3.
Aribo ticks the 2,3 and 4 boxes. The Rangers Aribo, that is. Let’s hope he shows up for Nigeria. Aribo can also perform on the wings. A possible rival for Chukwueze.
Iheanacho can do it all, if he’s in form and is motivated (no senior man distractions).
I don’t know why this corupt NFF ndi oshi don’t want to invite Opkoguma that have Germany ruggedness. I like that guy defending
Kevin Akpoguma should be invited to replace Awaziem. Can someone tell Augustine Eguaveon to do that. Akpoguma is a perfect replacement for Awaziem.
Set pieces and lack of quality crosses have been the bane of the SE under Rhor, let Sistine correct this pls.
After Balogun, the next trusted Defender is Awaziam..That said why did the coach invite him fully well that he has been battling this injury since October. Its a big shame to invite unfit players to AFCoN while healthy players like Okpokuma and Basset with strong and enthusiasm were left out. This is African football where fitness wins u games more than tactics . what was Eguacon thinking. Infact without Awaziam we are out except they quickly invite Okpoguma to replace Ighalo