Former Nigerian international Dimeji Lawal has reiterated that Super Eagles striker Victor Boniface still has plenty to offer the senior national team despite his lack of goals.
The Bayer Leverkusen star, who is sixth in the Bundesliga top goal scorer chart with six goals this ongoing season, is yet to score a goal for the Super Eagles.
However, Lawal, in a chat with Completesports.com, stated that the Nigerian international must learn to ease the pressure each time he’s picked to lead the team’s attack.
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“Boniface is a brilliant player as far as I am concerned. His commitment to both club and country has always been top-notch.
“I just believe it is a matter of time before Nigerians see him start scoring goals for the Super Eagles, the same way he does for Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.
“Don’t write him off yet because every player has their difficult moment as well. I am confident Boniface will be a good asset for the senior national team.”
5 Comments
I also believe.
So we should continue to babysit Boniface while allowing other talented potentials like Desserts , Akorodare , Akpom and Maja to rust. Who does that? the SE is not a rehabilitation round for players but a a place to show the fans what you can do
TO ME, BONIFACE HAS BEEN ENOUGH CHANCES TO SHOW CASE HIS GAME ON THE FIELD OF PLAY, WHICH HE FAILED SEVERALLY by not showing stuff & scoring goals.
AKPOBORIE DIDN’T ENJOY ENOUGH PLAYING TIME LIKE HIM BEFORE HE WAS THROWING OUT OF TEAM.
DESSERS WASN’T GIVEN ENOUGH CHANCES LIKE BONIFACE ( that play seven matches in a row without either assist or score goal) BUT DESSERS SHOW-CASE HIS GAME & SCORE GOALS ( if not that he used to wasting scoring chances THAN Boniface that doesn’t make any scoring attempt).
THERE IS NO TIME TO BE GIVING ONLY ONE PLAYER TEN MATCHES TO PROVE HIMSELF BEFORE GRABBING HIS CHANCES.
OKOCHA, OLISEH, AMUNEKE, AGHAHOWA, UDEZE, AIYEGBENI, YOBO, BABAYARO, ENYEAMA, OSAZE, MARTINS, AYILA, I.K UCHE, NSOFOR, MUSA, CHUKWUEZE, UZOHO, OSAYI-SAMUEL, NWABALI all grabbing their chances in FIRST international match they play for super eagle.
NFF SHOULD EMPLOY A GOOD STANDARD FOREIGN COACH ( that knows about African football & players) AND GIVE CHANCES TO NEW PLAYERS THAT ARE READY TO DIE ON THE FIELD OF PLAY
To continue placing Boniyeye to occupying that Golden opportunity meant for more serious Nigerians to play that vital role in the National team, is to pass great insult to the rest of us.
How many games he has to play without a single goal from this Boniyeye? That rooky is just not good for the Nation. He is what a good friend of mine, would call, a ‘club player’. Is that not why no other clubs want him in their in their mix?
Football is a brutal business. Fans want results and they want it now.
Victor Bonifce is no doubt a huge talent. Okay, he suffers from chronic off-the-pitch distractions in his ill-advised social media shenanigans. But, that aspect is not the focus of my comment here.
Down to pure football, it is odd that Boniface has struggled in Super Eagles colours owing to how deadly he has been in a world class German Bundasliga- we are not talking about any backwater league. 1 goal in 11 games for the Super Eagles is truly an eyesore.
But, yes, I belong to the school of thought of not just discarding him yet. On another level, I agree we need to give others like Maja, Akpom and Arokodare a look-in.
What gives me a ray of hope for Boniface is that, with every passing game for Nigeria, he seems to be getting closer to smacking the back of the net. Hitting the bar here ans there, last ditch tackles from opposing defenders and shots just wheezing to the side of goal have all led to nail biting near misses for Boniface. It’s unfortunate his nice goal against Saudi Arabia last year was stolen from him and recorded an own goal. He attacked the space with bad intentions leading to the goal.
In any event, Boniface stays in the conversation for me. Yes he is currently there with struggling strikers like Onuachu, Awoniyi, Umar and even, more recently Iheancho. But, off all of these misfiring centre forwards, my money is on Boniface to experience green shoots of recovery in front of goal for Nigeria quicker once he is back fit.