By Daily Sports on February 14, 2019

It was with a smile in my face that I got the news that the national under-23 coach Imama Amapakabor had released the list of players to hit camp as part of preparations for the under-23 African Nations Cup tie between Nigeria and Libya which holds next month.

I was pleased to see the name of one player I have had the privilege of coaching in the last few years, Anayo Iwuala, as part of the invited 33 players who have been reporting to camp since Wednesday, February 13. 
In 2016 a young speedy star stormed Edo State and made a solid impression in the Edo State Youth League, the highest competition for youth teams at the state level.
Anayo was registered by my club and Edo State League debutants that year, Benin Warriors FC, as a late minute inclusion after we suffered an injury to one of our hitmen just a few days to the tournament.
I quickly made a request to Excellent Football Club, a grassroots club in Ughelli, Delta State (coached by friend Johnbull Onome) with which we have a good relationship, for the services of a striker and coach Johnbul allowed Iwuala come in and help the Benin Warriors’ quest to make a good impression in the state league.
The moment I met him for the first time it was clear to me that he was a level-headed, quiet and disciplined player. And when he stepped into the pitch for his first training session with us, I immediately saw first-hand what a great talent he was and why he was strongly recommended to me for the state league.
Anayo is a strong, pacy and excellent finisher of a striker. Think Killian Mbappe and you have glimpsed the talent that is Anayo.
The rest, as they say, is history. 
At the end of the Edo State League in 2016, Benin Warriors had made history as the first debutants to win the competition and Anayo was at the heart of that triumph. He was banging in all kinds of goals at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium where the matches held and in the end he became the highest goal scorer of the tournament with 9 goals in 5 matches for Benin Warriors.
Last year he joined Nigeria National League (NNL) outfit Delta Force of Asaba on loan from his grassroots club Excellent FC and after impressing greatly in the league, he was snapped up by newly promoted Kada FC of the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL).
Anayo has taken the NPFL by storm, showing his pace and goal scoring abilities and this saw him being recently named in the NPFL team of the week.
I am not really surprised by his ascent in football. Having worked with him closely for about two years, I can readily attest to his quality and his off-the-pitch behaviour. 
I’ve always told him he can reach the very top in no time and that he only needs to keep his levelheadedness. 
Anayo’s rise is also a big testament to the quality of work Excellent FC does in producing young players and having seen the team close up severally, and with the number of professional players the club has churned out, I’m proud of coach Johnbul and proud to be associated with the work he does in bringing up young players. 
Hopefully, the rest of Nigeria will soon come to see how good Anayo is and he will become a mainstay in the national team for a long time to come and he would proceed to have a fine career at club level in a good European side.
I also wish to pay tribute to another player invited for the under-23 camp, Ebube Duru of Lobi Stars. The fine and intelligent left back grew up in Benin City where he played his grassroots football before joining the professional ranks. 
Ebube is a disciplined lad who I know personally and having had a couple of Super Eagles caps already under his belt, he could become part of a nucleus of experienced heads coach Imama could rely upon going forward with the team.

Below is the press release from the NFF announcing the invitation of the players:

Head Coach Imama Amapakabo has called to camp 33 players ahead of next month’s Africa U23 Cup of Nations qualifying fixture between Nigeria and Libya.
The first leg, to be hosted by Libya in Tunisia (as the Libyans still cannot host international matches in their country) will hold between 20th – 22nd March, with Nigeria able to choose between 25th and 26th March for the return leg.
Already, the Nigeria Football Federation has opted for 25th March for the return leg, with the expectation that the Libya Football Federation will opt for either 20th or 21st March for the first leg.
The invited players resumed camping in Abuja on Wednesday.

THE INVITED PLAYERS
Goalkeepers: Amos Benjamin (Bayelsa United); Makanjuola Adewale (Ekiti United); Anozie Chinedu (FC IfeanyiUbah); Stanley Nwabili (Enyimba FC)
Defenders: John Lazarus (Lobi Stars); Chidera Eze (Rangers International); Anumudu Udochukwu (Lobi Stars); Austin Ugochukwu (Kano Pillars); Chinedu Ajana (Katsina United); Kehinde Adeyemi (Sunshine Stars); Ndah Olisah (Remo Stars); Chinwendu Ali (Yobe Stars); Ebube Duru (Lobi Stars.)
Midfielders: Ayobami Junior (Shooting Stars); Isah Ndala (Nasarawa United); William Ukeme (Wikki Tourists); Olatunji Matthew (Enyimba FC); Seth Mayi (Plateau United); Yusuf Maigoro (Kano Pillars); Iwuala Anayo (Kada City); Cletus Emotan (Rivers United); Chigozie Obasi (Sunshine Stars); Chukwudi Agor (ASJ, Owerri)l
Forwards: Etiboy Akpan (Akwa United); Anas Mohammed (Shooting Stars); Chijoke Alaekwe (FC IfeanyiUbah); Shamman Tanze (Kano Pillars); Agboola Joshua (Katsina United); Wari Williams (Nasarawa United); Ebuka Okeke (Lamray United); Tolu Ojo (Remo Stars); Wasiu Alalade (Enyimba FC); Solomon Nsude (FC IfeanyiUbah)

Nigeria is the defending champion of the Africa U23 Cup of Nations, having defeated Algeria in the final of the second edition of the championship staged by Senegal in December 2015. That triumph earned the Olympic Eagles a ticket to the Men’s Football Tournament of the Rio 2016 Olympics, where they won the bronze medal – Nigeria’s only medal at that Olympics.”

•Photo shows me and Anayo after a Benin Warriors match

Source Daily Sports

Posted February 14, 2019

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