By Daily Sports on September 4, 2021
Ahmed Musa is fast closing in on a Nigeria national team record achieved by Joseph Yobo and Vincent Enyeama.
Musa earned his 99th international cap having featured in Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Peter Butler’s Liberia at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos.
With the three-time African kings winning 2-0 thanks to a Kelechi Iheanacho brace, he was introduced for the Leicester City man in the 84th minute.
The Kano Pillars legend went into the game on 98 caps, eight more than former Chelsea and Stoke City star John Obi Mikel, who quit international football after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations staged in Egypt.
Now, he is two matches short of Yobo and Enyeama’s mark and the ex-Leicester City and CSKA Moscow man, who has 15 international goals to his credit, could match their feat should he feature in the country’s next two features against Cape Verde and Central African Republic.
The Fatih Karagumruk forward had surpassed Mikel as the third most-capped Super Eagles player has featured in an international friendly against Algeria on October 9, 2020.
Musa shot into the international limelight after helping Nigeria U23 win the 2010 Wafu Nations Cup where he scored goals against the Benin Republic and Burkina Faso.
His performance saw him invited to the senior national team prior to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, although he did not make the 30-man squad due to an ankle injury.
At the 2011 Fifa U20 World Cup in Colombia, the former Kano Pillars man scored three goals in five matches and he was included by Fifa’s shortlist for the Adidas Golden Ball.
After representing the country at the youth level, the speedy forward made his senior debut on August 5, 2010, in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualification versus Madagascar – coming in as a substitute for Mikel in the 2-0 win.
He scored his first goal for the Super Eagles in an international friendly against Kenya in March 2011.
The three-time Russian Premier League winner has gone on to feature for Nigeria at two Afcon championships as well as two Fifa World Cups.
Also, he is the country’s leading goalscorer in the global football showpiece with four goals to his name, all coming against Argentina. (Goal)
•PHOTO: Ahmed Musa
Source Daily Sports
Posted September 4, 2021
You may also like...
West African champ Abubakar set for European debut...
Ronaldo Broke Coronavirus Rules: Reports
Man Utd’s Jones Received Twitter Apology After Jibe...
Forgo 5 months' pay, go for free Wolves...
Ndidi Sidelined Till February With Knee Injury
Siasia to meet Mikel, Ighalo in London

NPFL: Rangers win big as Nasarawa shock Abia
Nigeria know World Table Tennis Champs foes today
Bayelsa athletics boss Oredipe maps out dev plans
Falcons stars dominate IFFHS Africa XI
Eguavoen backs NPFL talents for Nigeria squad despite CHAN failure
He’s very strong, Simeone returns Osimhen praise
Joshua boxing return still uncertain
NBA star Bane eyes Nigeria switch
Palmer 'very, very happy' at Chelsea, says Rosenior
AFCON 2025: VAR recording discloses what referee said before Morocco's penalty miss against Senegal
AFCON 2025 highlights: World-class stadiums, VAR drama, record attendance
Oliseh slams Osimhen for costing Eagles’ AFCON trophy
Rangers International going, going . . . (63,494 views)
Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (54,788 views)
Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (52,684 views)
Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (52,344 views)
Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (52,277 views)
Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (52,187 views)
Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (52,054 views)
NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (51,608 views)
Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (50,787 views)
Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (49,315 views)
Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (47,704 views)
John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (47,173 views)