Former Nigeria international, Garba Lawal, has asserted that only caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen can determine whether Ahmed Musa still merits a place in the Super Eagles squad, Completesports.com reports.
Musa, 32, rejoined four-time Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) champions Kano Pillars for a third stint in October. Since his return, he has been in scintillating form for the Sai Masu Gida, scoring five goals so far in the current season.
Super Eagles centre-back William Troost-Ekong, who has often captained the team in Musa’s absence, maintains that the former Leicester City winger remains a pivotal figure.
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“We’re happy he’s back,” Troost-Ekong remarked during a media session in Uyo ahead of the Super Eagles’ 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matchday three fixture against the Mediterranean Knights of Libya.
“He’s still our captain, and he’s welcome back any time.
“He’s our most-capped player, a good role model, and an excellent leader.
“I’m happy to deputise for him.”
Divided Opinions
Musa has not featured for the Super Eagles since the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Côte d’Ivoire earlier this year. However, opinions remain split on whether he should continue with the national team.
“I think coach Augustine Eguavoen is in the best position to decide that,” Lawal, a member of Nigeria’s gold-winning U-23 squad at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, told Completesports.com.
“Musa has done well since returning to Kano Pillars. Scoring goals consistently in a tough league like the NPFL is no small feat.
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“It reflects his hunger for the game and his determination to prove he still belongs at the highest level.
“We all know the challenges of playing in the NPFL. Despite these, he has scored five goals already. For me, that’s remarkable.”
Musa’s Impact At Pillars
Musa’s influence on Kano Pillars has been significant. The four-time NPFL champions currently sit sixth on the league table, with 19 points from 13 matches. Usman Abdallah’s team is unbeaten in their last four games.
“There’s no doubt Musa has positively impacted his teammates, especially the younger players,” Lawal added.
“It’s not every day you have a player of his calibre in the NPFL.
“The young players would have learned valuable lessons from his passion and dedication to the game. He is a true role model.”
By Adeboye Amosu
15 Comments
Don’t just start. Musa is happily retired
“Exclusive: Eguavoen Holds Key to Musa’s Super Eagles Future –Lawal”
This is secret code talk, to really understand what is being said here just swap out “Key” for “Brown Envelope” and you will have decoded what is being said – If you know you know.
In Nigeria, if money is talking then bullshit is working.
Hahahaha….you took that straight out of my heart.
Eguavoen holds no keys. If Musa were to be desperate to return, with his current form in the NPFL, he has a strong case to support a brown envelope to return. Not to talk of the political influence he wields. For a man desperate to get the SE job on a permanent basis, Eguavoen is the most malleable man on earth at the moment.
But a shot at CHAN wouldn’t be out of line. If not for anything, for the records. The way Musa has been breezing past much ‘younger’ NPFL defenders and scoring crucial goals provides a strong basis for an argument in support of that.
If Musa were to be called up to the CHAN Eagles today, it would be a merited call-up.
@Dr.Drey,that wasn’t me!Don’t know why complete sports let this happen..
I think I read CAF said he’s ineligible for CHAN because his contract is short term or so but Eguavoen still being urged on to abide in the gaffer seat means NFF might have settled for him for March qualifiers. Unserious bunch. E no kuku step aside to make “quackhouse” increase their pace to get a tactician early enough abi them no wan pay person wey go dey “idle” for their eyes till March. This their papa money wey Dem dey generously give us, make e no finish oh.
Let Musa get atleast a year and half contract at Kano Pillars then lead CHAN team to qualification… Afterwards we can assess if he still needs to be integrated back to SE main. Now we need players with potential for longevity in the ensuing years for SE main…
To be honest Musa still has something to offer to the super eagles base on his current form.we need experience players for the up coming w/c qualifying matches.
okay na stormy daniels, pls greet segun west for we an remember araa krumbie to sound the alarm anytime roland trumps show up gwannu? forget about obiakopolor for now an just fucos on patrick alongside aloasebikani yuh hear?? lmmaaaooo
patrick aka segwu west east noth an south how market naaaa?
okay na stormy daniels, pls greet segun west for we an remember araa krumbie with stan to sound the alarm anytime roland trumps show up gwannu? forget about obiakopolor for now an just fucos on patrick alongside aloasebikani yuh hear?? lmmaaaooo
@Greenturf, you are being impersonated right now on another thread….
yes yuh har rite, de pesin who is doing the personationing is dat craseman cal arara kumbie, de guy nor get life at al lmaaoo, hi doesnt knew y de csn will allowed dis kain tings msheeew
It’s a shame these things happen!Weirdos everywhere..Unfortunately,there are no criminal laws against impersonation on social media,the reason some strange people or otherwise headcase do this sadly!
Super Eagles need is experience no doubt.
Here we go again with the experience, we just never learn. Just like they said with iheanacho and co. I will keep saying it , the problem with Nigeria is Nigerians. Who in their right minds will field Musa in 2024. This is a player that could not cut it in the Turkish league but had to come to a below standard league like the NPFL and we have fans and regressive ex player like garba lawal pushing to have him in the team.
It is sad to watch and the way we are going we will not win the afcon and not qualify for the world cup. People are not pushing to fortify our team with obvious weak areas in our team like goal keeping, midfield and center forward positions, it is the area where we already have quality like chukwueze, lookman, Ejuke, Tella and Simon that we now need a faded musa. This is why it is important to have a foreign coach because left to us , we will bungle everything. Eguavoen by his admission at the last presser stated that there was an obvious problem of creativity. It is a good observation but they will not do anything despite an array of solutions available to us. We have shoretire , Akinsamiro, orban and jasper. We have been complaining of an absence of a playmaker since mike obi and some how we just expect our problems to be solved miraculously. It is extremely frustrating being a Nigerian.
@ Greentuf and Dr. Drey, it’s very difficult to separate a Nigeria Local coaches from a “BIG BROWN ENVELOPES”., they are like 5 and 6 or pants and Yanshes. lol.