Sodiq Ismaila has said he hopes to provide more assists for the Super Eagles.
Ismaila was one of three home-based players who were in the Super Eagles starting line-up in the second semi-finals of the Unity Cup.
The two other home-based stars were Papa Daniel of Niger Tornadoes and Ismaila’s Remo teammate Sikiru Alimi.
The right-back set up the first goal for Eric Chelle’s side as he sent in a cross which was slotted home by Cyriel Dessers.
Reacting to a video of the opening goal on X, where the commentator was praising Ismaila for his brilliant cross for Dessers, the Remo Stars defender wrote on his handle: “First of many Insha Allah (God willing).”
Also Read: Tella Dismisses Talks Of Snubbing Super Eagles
Ismaila would hope to get another assist when the Super Eagles face Jamaica in the final of the Unity Cup on Saturday.
The Reggae Boys reached the final after edging out Trinidad and Tobago 3-2.
In May 2024, Ismaila received his first call-up to the Super Eagles as part of the 23-man squad under former coach Finidi George for the matchday 3 and 4 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The 21-year-old made his debut for the Super Eagles on matchday 4 in the 2-1 defeat to Benin Republic, when he came on in the 60th minute for Bright Osayi-Samuel.
By James Agberebi
8 Comments
Ghana must Go (Down)
There appears to be a paradigm shift in this bitter West African rivalry as Nigeria secured back-to-back wins against noisy neighbours after yesterday’s glorious 2:1 triumph in London. Circa a year ago, the Super Eagles walked over the Black Stars with ease in an identical score-line, giving Nigeria fans the undisputable bragging rights.
The much maligned Dessers opened the scoring with a neat finish in 14 minutes following a wicked cross from Ismaila with Ajayi’s deflected header making it 2:0 five minutes later from Chukwueze’s pristine freekick delivery.
Thomas Asante’s laboured finish in 70 minutes only served to give Ghana fans false hope of a comeback as the match ended 2:1 to the rightful victors!
It was nice to see the Super Eagles play with hunger, desire and passion earlier on. They took the fight to Ghana and could have easily scored more goals. The 4-1-3-2 formation proved very compact and most of the players felt at home in this arrangement.
There were periods of cool, calm and composed passage of play from Nigeria as they combined and connected with neat passes. They actually played like a team that had been together for a while with a high level of chemistry, cooperation and camaraderie.
I thought Chukwueze had his best performance for the Super Eagles in a while. Whether operating from the middle, or cutting in from the flanks, he was progressive and helped transition from defence to attack with menace, class and poise. Ismaila (known for his ruthless crosses in the NPFL) delivered the goods from right back. Onyeka was uncompromising and solid while Igoh was unyielding and forceful. Semi Ajayi was calmness personified whilst Nwabili pulled off a world class low dive save.
Ndidi brought experience and midfield expertise to the table whilst Papa Daniel sort of played it safe and was slightly underwhelming. Despite his great goal and excellent commitment, Dessers sort of struggled with hold-up play. Alimi, who was excellent without the ball, lacked the pace to keep up with the intensity of the game and his combination with Dessers was a few cards short of a packed deck. Onyemaechi was busy defensively but his trademark crosses took the night off.
I thought Nigeria suffered after the first batch of subs was made. Musa and Iheanacho – never really known for hard pressing game – didn’t really assist the midfield in wresting back the initiative from Ghana. Iheanacho almost delivered the kiss of death goal but for a wafer-thin offside infraction. Musa won a free kick but didn’t really impose himself on the game with Simon trying and failing to dribble his way from the flanks when the team needed the sort of injection and incision from the middle that Chukwueze had provided.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed the game and will be watching it in full again. The Super Eagles played with a sky-high level of understanding and professionalism that left me speechless and in awe, when you think that a number of these players might never kit for the national team again. Their performance hits all the right spots prior to the substitutions and even then, it is great testament to their staying-power for not allowing Ghana to equalise.
It’s a 4/5 overall performance from me.
Chelle must be more tactical in his substitutions. He mustn’t always sacrifice the midfield in the hunt for more goals.
It happened in the game against Zim. He beefed up the striking roles and weakened the midfield, and the Zimbabweans started dominating the midfield and scored in the last minute.
In yesterday’s game, he also weakened the midfield and brought in more attacking force who were not fed with balls again, as the midfield collapsed. Ghana took over the midfield and dominated the game in the 2nd half.
The midfield is the engine of the team!
Papa Daniel and Samuel Chukwueze were the Swiss Watch of that midfield because of the movements and mechanics they manufactured, not to talk of their raw drive and intensity.
To remove them for Ahmed Musa and Moses Simon was criminal. Nigeria conceded a goal almost immediately with Ghana coming perilously close to grabbing the equaliser.
Whereas Chukwueze and Papa Daniel disrupted and dislocated Ghana before driving forward, Musa and Simon afforded the Ghanians free rein the browbeat Nigeria.
It was a tactical faux pas , one I pray Coach Chelle learns from.
Honestly, this match would have benefitted with someone like Flying Eagles Kparobo Arierhi with him stamina, lungs and legs. He would have been a fat more formidable threat to Ghana than Alimi.
True
Kudos to Sodiq, I hope to see captain Nduka against Jamaica. Remo Stars are really upgrading Nigerian football from the scratch of Ogun state. Much respect to Hon Kunle!!!
To me, Chukwueze had the best performance in the eagles during this match alongside Ndidi, I love to see more of Alimi and Ismaila sodiq in the eagles, Papa Daniel did so well too and they have successfully given a voice to the home based team.
This is true. The home base players did well.
This is not true. The home base did not do well, they did wella as players.
Even Amala and Eba (his bro) knows this. Thanks