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The Flying Eagles duel with hosts Senegal in the final on Sunday, but which of this class is best placed to take up the gauntlet and make it to the very top?
The final of the African Youth Championship will on Sunday be contested between Nigeria and hosts Senegal. They are familiar foes, and there is a nice symmetry to the fact that, having contested the tournament’s opening game, they will now create its denouement.
Beyond which team wins on the day; beyond even how both teams fare at the Fifa U20 World Cup in New Zealand later in the year, there is the more pressing consideration. How faithfully will these competitions serve the developmental purpose for which they were conceived?
It is often an intriguing exercise looking at past Nigerian youth teams and trying to remember which of them maximised their career potential. It serves a timely reminder, of football and also of life in general, that nothing is ever guaranteed. A 100% success rate is a myth anywhere in the world, of course, but it is not unusual to have an entire generation of African youth footballers touted as the next big things, only to vanish into the ether – a prime example is Nigeria’s world-conquering U17 side of 2007.
Oddly, those who do make it are the less heralded of the bunch; that makes sense, since there is less to live up to, naturally, in terms of expectation. The limelight can be a double-edged sword for young footballers, with the propensity both to warm and to burn if seized too rashly: ill-advised decisions are taken, often based on heady promises to impressionable young minds. The not so eye-catching ones get to follow the path of gradual progression, their choices untainted and their minds clear; in turn this leads to lengthier careers, and it is they that stay longer in the mind.
In that regard, Musa Mohammed may not be the most glamorous member of the Flying Eagles, but there is a real possibility he will go on to have the most fulfilling career. The defender is improbably the team’s top goal-scorer with four goals, ahead even of much-heralded striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
He may lack the profile of his colleagues, but by no means is he a liability technically. In Manu Garba’s kaleidoscopic vision of football, the 18-year-old more than holds his own as captain amid the proliferation of talent around him. But while the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho, Musa Yahaya and Chidera Eze earned lucrative deals in top European sides on the back of their performances at the U17 World Cup in the UAE two years ago, Musa has struggled to secure his first professional deal. It is not for a lack of interest though.
Eyes on the ball | Musa has scored four goals in Senegal
Turkish giants Besiktas came closest to securing his signature, before pulling the plug on a pre-contract deal that would have taken effect when the right-back turned 18.
Back among his peers though, he remains a leader both on and off the field, and in the absence of his more celebrated team-mates, has shone for the Flying Eagles in their campaign at the African Youth Championships in Senegal. Of his tournament haul so far, three goals have come from the penalty spot, where he displays an unerring calm; and his whipped deliveries from corners and free-kicks make him a real handful.
While coach Garba has had to rein in his team to cater to the injury-enforced withdrawals of Iheanacho et al, Musa’s powerful running from right-back, his mature decision-making as well as the quality of his crosses have remained an unmistakable feature.
Once the U20 World Cup in New Zealand is done and dusted, there can be little argument that Musa is best placed to make the transition to the Super Eagles immediately. Think back to the relatively successful Flying Eagles squads of the past decade, and their enduring legacy is mostly defensive-minded players: the U20 sets of 1999, 2005 and 2007 yielded Joseph Yobo, John Obi Mikel (somewhat inadvertently), Elderson Echiejile and Taye Taiwo. There is a bigger demand in the Super Eagles for defensive players: in part because Nigeria’s flow of stalwart defenders is down to a limp trickle.
Musa fills a position of great need at the moment: the latest Super Eagles list was highlighted by the axing of long-time defensive stalwart Efe Ambrose, whose erstwhile incumbency at right-back has in itself been a manifestation of the paucity of options.
The recall of Germany-born Leon Balogun – unfortunate to injure himself on his international debut a year ago - is welcome, and it would do wonders for the national team to have two young, quality right-backs duelling for a spot in the team – famine to feast in a matter of months!
The jury remains out on the propriety and motivation for Iheanacho’s move to Manchester City, whose record in youth development over the last decade hardly quickens the pulse; and Yahaya has spoken of his struggles with the language over at Tottenham, allied to fitness concerns.
The lure of the Premier League is great, but there has been a steady decline in the percentage of academy-trained players that come through the ranks: as at October 2014, only 13.9% of Premier League players were home-grown (trained with the club for at least three years between ages 18-21), according to statistics collated by the CIES Football Observatory. For context, only Italy had a lower percentage in Europe’s major leagues.
With the prize jewels of the group struggling at the initial stage amid uncertainty over their futures in the cut-throat world of football’s richest league, it may be that the slow-burn path of Musa – as well as the squad’s lower profiles - reaps the most reward in the long term, both individually and for the senior national team.
Could he become Manu's enduring legacy?
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#CITYHITZ SPORT: AYC champions-elect, but which player will be Manu Garba's enduring legacy?
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