SUPER Eagles head coach Sunday Oliseh is contemplating dropping Fenerbahçe striker Emmanuel Emenike for the forthcoming World Cup qualifier against Swaziland due to take place next month.
Currently on loan to United Arab Emirates clubside Al Ain, Emenike, 28, has been Nigeria's leading goalscorer over recent years but of late, has suffered a dip in form. Since Oliseh has assumed work as the Eagles head coach, he has fielded Emenike in four games but the striker is yet to find the back of the net in any of the matches.
Oliseh has been a big admirer of Emenike after he topped the scoring chart at the 2013 African Cup of Nations in South Africa but he has now gone more than two years without an international goal. His last goal was in Ethiopia in October 2013 in a 2014 World Cup play-off against the Waylia Antelopes.
One source close to the team said “Oliseh is disappointed Emenike has not justified the confidence he has in him. He has been given his chance by the coach, who is now seriously considering Odion Ighalo to lead his attack against Swaziland next month.”
Watford striker Ighalo responded to his snub by the Eagles coach for his first set of call-ups by scoring in the first game under Oliseh, netting the third goal in Nigeria's 3-0 win over Cameroon in Brussels last week. It was his second goal for the Eagles after he fired his first against Chad in Kaduna in June.
Nigeria and Swaziland will battle for a place in the third round of the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign next month, after the southern African nation eliminated Djibouti in the first round. The two legs are slated for between November 9 and 17 with the winners qualifying for a third round to be played on a mini-league basis.
Known as the Isihlangu, the Swazi national team defeated Djibouti 2-1 in Lobamba over the weekend to secure an 8-1 aggregate win over the East Africans. Swaziland won the first leg in Djibouti 6-0 and were never threatened at the Somhlolo Stadium in the return leg, which they won easily.
Nigeria’s Super Eagles will fly into Lobamba in the first week of November for the first leg and host the Swazi's a fortnight later. Nigeria's Super Eagles have played at the 1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals, reaching the second round in 1994, 1998 and 2014.
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