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Awoniyi Keen To Get Super Eagles Chance

Awoniyi Keen To Get Super Eagles Chance

Taiwo Awoniyi hopes he will get the chance to play for the Super Eagles any time soon, reports Completesports.com.

Awoniyi has represented Nigeria at youth levels but he is yet to get the chance to play for the senior side.

The forward has impressed on loan so far at Bundesliga club Union Berlin, with three goals and one assist in 10 league appearances.

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The 23-year-old is keen to maintain the impressive scoring form which he believes will help him gain recognition at international level.

“The national team question for me is a big thing. I remember in the U17 and U20 days, the pride to wear the national colours is massive,” Awoniyi told Brila FM.

“I understand that the country has talents in abundance, But I also have to stick to my principle of time and season and continue to work hard. When it’s my time I’ll take the opportunity and understand it for what it is.”


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COMMENTS

WORDPRESS: 30
  • daniel 3 years ago

    Awoni try to score 10 goals first before thinking about super Eagles, if na brazil national team, no body go look your side until you start banging goals every week, 9ja own na rehabritation centre

    • Doctor Koyemi Oderinde 3 years ago

      Taiwo Awoniyi is better than Victor Osimhen.

  • JimmyBall 3 years ago

    @Daniel how many goals target have you set for any other super Eagles member? Even some without club or playing activity are turning up in Camp.

    • GLORY 3 years ago

      I honestly see Awoniyi scoring nothing less than 12 goals this season, if he carries on with same fire he is on at the moment. He seems to have that quickness off his mark, something most good strikers have. And also adding some aggression to his game. Won’t be a bad idea to see what he can bring to the table. But Rohr has final say that must be respected to the very end.

  • It doesn’t have anything to do with setting a goal target for any other super eagles player. They are already in the team. Awoniyi right now is on the out and he wants to get in. So he needs to do something extraordinary to either displace another player or at least get an invite. And as a STRIKER what he needs to do is score more goals. Rohr wont be able to resist a player who plays in the German bundesliga and has scored more than 10 goals in a season.

  • Larry 3 years ago

    Awoniyi needs to score 10 goals , he needs to do something extra ordinary or kill himself to be on the best team in the World..dem don start again!!
    Ordinarily, playing regularly in the top 3 league in the World earns him a right to be given an opportunity.
    The question is who are his challengers in SE.. On current form, Awonuyi is the best striker/9 for SE. If SE were to have any match soon, this dude performance outshines others in the top 9 position.
    Forget about Belgian league, together with Osimhen, this dude performed well in the Belgian league.
    The only two strikers we have playing in the top leagues in the world are Osi and Awo. Coincidentally, these are the only two strikers that have scored for all the major national teams they have played for. AWO (U-17, U-20, U-23), Osi (U-17, U-20, U-23, and SE). Awoniyi is the best alternative to Osimhen. Others are Maja, Sadiq,Desser and Olayinka.
    You guys should stop setting unnecessary targets. Playing and performing regularly in the German league is not a walk in the park.
    Stop the hatred, appreciate great performance.

    • JimmyBall 3 years ago

      Mature talk @Larry… even Musa wey never play ball for ages the pick starting jersey. Yet nobody set target for Musa… make we stop being hypocritical. It’s only in Nigeria we use “I get am before” to select squad.

      • Ikeben 3 years ago

        @JimmyBall this your attack on Musa on every thread is becoming simply hatred. Musa played for 90mins on the 22/10/2020 and was invited early November for International match how is that ages. You don’t need to pull Musa down to allow space for the better players you want to replace him. He is about to retire and every body knows that. But as a Super Eagle star who has paid his dues he deserves some respect and our young team need experienced men like him to guide them.

        If he is that bad why was it that after he and Balogun were withdrawn in Benin, that Sierrie leon began to bang in the goals. It simply shows that experience is still needed in any team for there to be proper balance.
        Musa will soon hang his boot but before then, if the coach still feel he needs him, then let him come, Afterall even Mikel still has football in him, so why not Musa. Let’s respect our General Musa, he is still the biggest name on our squad today.

    • Ikeben 3 years ago

      @Larry, how is Awoniyi the best No. 9 of Super Eagles on current form. Is Kelechi and Simmy not also playing on a Top league.

      Kelechi with limited time in EPL has 3goals and 3 Assits in 13games. Simmy also have 3goals in Italian league

      What makes you think Awoniyi is better than even Kayode, Sadique, Onuachu or Dessers who have been hitting goals not just this season but for double digits in previous seasons.

      I agree with other fans that said the competition for strikers is hot and he needs to do more in other to stand out. Yes he is playing in a top league but, he needs to continue in this form for some time before he can be invited.

      For me based on current form, I think Kayode and Sadiqu deserves it more now than Awoniyi.

      • Sunny 3 years ago

        @Ikeben, It’s high time we eschewed biases and embraced honesty and objectivity. You mentioned Kelechi as being in good form. How many goals has Kelechi scored in the premier league this season? We are not talking about the Europa league where he scores against teams equitable to League one quality in England. Zero! You also mentioned Simmy. Simmy scored three goals in Serie A but two of them were from the spot. The problem with the current Super Eagles is that most fans want players from their villages in the squad to the detriment of the quality of the team. You, Ikeben is an agenda pusher. I know what I am saying.

        • Ikeben 3 years ago

          @Sunny, I called several names, namely Kelechi, Simmy, Sadiqu, Kayode, Dessers, Onuachu (I even forgot Olayinka) who have all scored not less than 3 goals this season and you single out only 2 to reply that I have an agenda or about my village. That means these 7 players are all from my village. Then why not give the name of my village since you know me very well. A village with all tribes, wonderful.

          My simple submission is that Awoniyi is doing well but he is not standing out yet, if he needs an invite he need to continue in this form at least till March next year and stand out from the crowd of other Nigerian strikers.

          I also insist Kayode Olarnrewaju deserves an invite better with 5goals and 1 Assist in 13 games, mainly from Europa league which includes Villarel in my opinion.

        • Larry 3 years ago

          @Sunnyb, I really salute your uprightness and honesty. Quite often i have observed that some folks here are always looking at names to determine the type of response to provide. I have a long list of them, they look at the name of players or subject matter and if he doesn’t sound like their village people they throw subtle jab, like setting targets or cursing them out.
          Let me be clear, SE means Super Eagles and it is a national team for all regions. It doesn’t matter if the whole team comes from one village but such selection has to be justified.
          Folks need to grow up and stop this cheap mentality of village champion.

          • Sunny 3 years ago

            Larry, I am Sunny, not Sunnyb. I have reiterated this many times. We are totally different people.Anyway, I think you are right.

        • Adewuyi Olaosenikan 3 years ago

          Well said Sunny. There is too much bias comments here.

      • Larry 3 years ago

        @Ikeben
        Top 5 leagues in the world are La-liga, Premiership, Bundesliga , series A, and Lique 1.
        Awoniyi is the leading Nigerian striker in this top leagues. The fact that he joined his team without partaking in preseason and rose to become the top 9 in a team currently in top 6 says a lot about how much he has improved and the value he adds to the team.
        I have no doubts about Iheanacho’s ability but he needs to go to a team that offers regular action. Perhaps, the best position for Nacho is supporting striker or a #10, for me Iwobi owns that position, may be Olise/Ejaria can be on standby.
        Maja, Sadiq and kayode are doing well, but Awoniyi has feared better this Season. Add Onuachu and Desser to this list, they all need to go to bigger leagues. Please go and watch highlights of Onuachu champions league games, you’ll understand why it is difficult to rate his performance.
        Some players are club materials not national team materials. Considering performances for club and National team traction.
        Awoniyi and Osimhen are the best option for the top 9 position in SE. Their pedigree in national teams games speak a volume for them. Sadiq, Nacho, Kayode and Olayinka can be added to that mix. These guys have performed well against top clubs or European competitions.
        These players have performed creditably well in National team matches and are not doing badly in their respective clubsides.

        • Bishop 3 years ago

          I agree it’s too early to call Awoniyi as the best right now. He needs to demonstrate consistency. He is one striker though that if he finds his rythm might even displace Osimhen. He stood in for Isaac Success during the U17 tournament and was great. His recent performance with the U23 team that eventually needed some SE players to win was disappointing. HE needs time to prove he has rediscovered rythm.

  • What we need in the SE now, are players who are better than our current players; players who will add more value to the team, not just anybody.
    As I said sometime ago, before we invite a striker, we have to look at the player’s all round abilities not just the number of goals. Speed, dribbling, holdup play, strength, accuracy, intelligence etc.
    A striker can have 50 goals a season and out of that, 45 came through penalt…. and you invite him to SE, where we get penalty once in a blue moon

  • Taiwo Awoniyi is better than Paul Onuachu in all ramifications. He delivered for our junior national teams in the past.

  • Kingston 3 years ago

    The debate of Taiwo Awoniyi’s invitation is a tricky one.
    If I were the coach, and there’s a crucial game exactly next week (I mean like 20th of December, something like that) and all my key players are match fit (e.g osimhen is fit) then I won’t invite Taiwo for the feature. Why?:
    Because the importance of the game would require me to select my tested and trusted players for the encounter. If we’re in a position where we need all three points, then the chemistry of the players is too valuable to be looked aside. The three strikers I will pick ahead of Awoniyi will be: osimhen (that’s obvious. Remember we are imagining that he’s fit);
    Iheanacho (there’s no striker that has shown his abilities when it comes to wearing the eagles shirt more than Iheanacho – you can’t argue this. Look at the last two international breaks. For reasons known to Rohr, he started onuachu against Algeria. What happened? Disaster. Then he started Iheanacho against tunisia. What happened? The lad scored. Remember that this guy haven’t been in the team for about two years, and on his return Iheanacho beautifully marked it with a goal. Then to the qualifiers. In the first leg against Sierra Leone, osimhen scored. In the second leg Iheanacho SHOULD have scored, has it not been to terrible officiating that has been plaguing super eagles for some time now. Those saying that club side performances don’t necessarily translate to national team games when talking about onuachu should also apply it to Iheanacho. The guy performances for super eagles is polar opposite to his leicester games. Iheanacho has a tied record of scoring in four straight super eagles matches. And he achieved this playing as a second striker. But currently in leicester, Rodgers has been keeping to using one striker. And that striker is Vardy. Let’s get this right – Vardy can bench even Osimhen in regards to both of them current form. True, Iheanacho needs to get more playing time, especially as a second striker, where his ability to do late runs will come in handy. But there’s a cheap ploy people are using to downplay him – and that’s to say his goals was against ‘weak’ teams. That’s purely nonsense, so I won’t get into that matter.
    As for Musa, his experience will be the key factor for inviting him. What Musa is passing through Mikel also experienced it, though differently. Mikel was literally frozen out of the Chelsea squad under Conte. But during those times, Mikel still pulled one of his most brilliant games, that is, post 2013 afcon. In two games, Mikel scored twice assisted twice. Why did I site this as an example? Because those who really watched the last four super eagles games, if they were to be honest with themselves, Musa played well. Dropping Musa for a crucial game would be folly in highest order. If there’s anything football history teaches us is that young players are though exciting, they usually fall under pressure. The fact that Musa is captain means that he has authoritative role, that means that the younger players are looking up to him. Imagine the psychological effect it will have on the talented but young players that their captain didn’t make the cut? And this is before a make or mar match.
    I use the “crucial game” scenerio to explain my current stand with Taiwo’s invitation. If there’s was a match next week, then Taiwo will be on the stand by list. But since our next match will be in March, with the aim to get at least a point in the two games, then inviting Taiwo ahead of Musa won’t be a bad idea. We are not in a desperate situation, and Musa can be relieved to sort out his club status. But this will be on one condition: Taiwo Awoniyi continues and possibly improves on his current form. He has the quality necessary to supplement the skillset of Osimhen and Iheanacho. While Osimhengoal is this all-round ball player and a predator-like striker, and Iheanacho is this technical, “fox-in-the-box” striker, Taiwo Awoniyi comes as an aggressive target man. Three strikers with different style of play increases our chances of adaptating to any kind of opposition in many possible circumstances.
    So if I were the coach, ahead of the March qualifiers (especially against lestho) my strikers will be: osimhen, iheanacho and taiwo. Just as we wish Taiwo keeps scoring is the same way we should be wishing Musa finds a good club and fits in quickly. The same way we should be wishing Iheanacho starts playing regularly in the EPL, and osimhen returns from injury and claim the Seria A golden boot.
    Super Eagles all the way!

  • Kingston 3 years ago

    Taiwo Awoniyi has scored again…

  • Awoniyi Is In Good Form.just Scored Again..

  • Yeah thats how to get the coaches attention, keep scoring and the coach will have no choice than to invite him to the team

  • Footballfanatic 3 years ago

    Taiwo has performed very well against two big teams in Germany….he was unlucky not to get a goal against bayern but did terrorize their defence…He was also a menace today, always tormenting the Borrusia defence till he scored. He was guilty of missing some big chances tho but kudos to the lad his confidence is growing and he’s getting mature. I think he needs to just move from liverpool and end the endless loan spells.

  • Larry 3 years ago

    Irrespective of the number of goals he scores, if he continues to play regularly, Awoniyi is worthy of SE invitation. 4 goals, on a penalty and an assist in 6 Bundesliga games is no fluke.
    You can’t hate on a player that showed up against European Champions Bayern, star studded Dortmund and Stuttgart.

  • OmoEsan 3 years ago

    For those that have followed Taiwo’s progress right from his youth days, it’s not a surprise that he is performing in a top league.

    He has shown his quality in all our age grade teams, scoring crucial goals and terrorizing defences.

    Liverpool will not sign-up a player without the right qualities. The fact that Liverpool signed him is a major factor that should make national team selectors keep an eye on him.

    Many seem to have forgotten his exploits in the Belgian Jupiter in a hurry. He hit double figures in his first season and in his second, he hit double figures while only playing in the second half of the season. This guy scored consistently in seven matches and single handedly saved Mouscron from relegation.

    His minders at Liverpool sure know that he is meant for the top league, reason why they refused all offers from Belgium and any lower league. Last season was a low for him, just like any upcoming player may not be preferred by a coach, but the moment Union Berlin started to feature him, I knew that it’s a matter of time before he proves himself.

    With four goals and still counting, Taiwo is arguably our best performing striker in the top five leagues at the moment and if he continues at this rate, a Super Eagles invite beckons.

    Personally, I prefer him to Onuachu (who is also a good striker). Taiwo has proved himself at Onuachu’s current level (Belgium) and has moved on to greater challenges in the Bundesliga, so Onuachu has got a lot to prove.

    • JimmyBall 3 years ago

      This one is a mature ongributor without any sentiments… @OmoEsan just carry go!

      • Nice words for Awoniyi, I’m afraid you ended badly with the comment, Onuachu has a lot to prove.
        I disagree that he, Onuachu has a lot to prove. I don’t think it’s always the case that playing in the top leagues as Germany, Spain, England make you a better player than those in Holland, Belgium, Austria and all. It’s all about opportunity and chance for anyone who finds themselves in those top leagues. Remember Onuachu’s goal scoring form at Denmark with Mitydland how he was bestrode the Danish league like a colossus scoring goals for fun with great effect. At Genk in Belgium, he’s reproduced those magical moments without breaking a sweat to prove his quality. I feel the two players should not be compared on the basis of club rather on their individual strength where both have excelled tremendously.

        I have always been a long time admirer of Taiwo Awoniyi not only for his goals but also for his hardwork, resilience and determination to fight back during tough times. I sincerely hope this new found form mark a turning point in his football career. He embodies resoluteness.

        • OmoEsan 3 years ago

          @Fideleny, the fact that our opinion differs doesn’t imply that I ended my comment badly. In as much as I respect your opinion and that of others, I still stand by my opinion because I know what I know and moreover, we see things from different perspectives.

          Both guys (Taiwo & Paul) are good strikers , no doubt. We cannot shy away from the fact that players in the top five leagues are rated higher than those in other leagues. You may not agree, but I will not compare the Belgian Jupiter or the Dannish league with a German Bundesliga, never. This isn’t to say Onuachu will not deliver in a tougher league, but in as much as he’s yet to play and deliver at that level, then he’s got more to prove. Moreover Paul has had his chances with the Super Eagles and at this level, he’s also got much more to prove.

  • Doctor Koyemi Oderinde 3 years ago

    Victor Osimhen has to sit up after recovering from injury. What we have been saying all along is here. Taiwo Awoniyi and Paul Onuachu are far better than Osimhen. Osimhen is not bad but he needs to score good goals in Italy.

  • With victor osimhen out of the game till next year, its time for the Super eagles coach to look for capable strikers who can hold their own. There are so many of them. Sadiq, awoniyi, desser, even paul onuachu. But whoever is selected has to be able to hold play with the team. I see some changes coming into the team next year and I hope its all good

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