Ageless Ighalo deserves to come out of retirement

The last biggest story for Super Eagles was about Victor Osimhen, though. Some in the media have portrayed Osimhen as a savior and they way they have reported, one would believe that Nigeria is short on options. That isn't so. Overlooked until this week, Odion Ighalo has just made a strong statement to come out of retirement come next two games against Liberia and Cape Verde.

Despite the availability of the likes of Emmanuel Dennis, Terem Moffi, Taiwo Awoniyi and Simy Nwankwo, Gernot Rohr still feels Nigeria need new forwards. Kelechi Iheanacho and Victor Osimhen have done well as double pivots in recent games for the Super Eagles. Rohr has tended to opt for either the Leciester City forward or his good friend, Paul Onuachu, when announcing his squads.

Moffi failed to get a real chance in the past, whilst Dennis was called up for some games too. It appears that Nigeria's head coach is reluctant to call both up, and it is Ighalo who has now made a strong case. It seems that he may have secured his ticket out of retirement and deservedly so.

Odion Ighalo surprisingly retired from international football in 2019, after netting 16 goals in 35 games.

"We miss his leadership, experience and goals. He was the best goal scorer at the last AFCON and World Cup Qualifiers," Rohr said.

"We have so many young players and they could learn a lot. Ighalo is a very important man, I hope he can comeback."

"I have put him in the provisional list for the next games. We still keep in touch and he has ambition to help his country."

"We have some many good strikers like Awoniyi, Moffi, Osimhen and Onuachu. Osimhen is our number one striker. Ighalo is different, he is a special player. With Ighalo's maturity and experience, he could help us," the Franco-German added.

From what Rohr has said, it seems that Ighalo has forced himself into his plans. 

Odion Ighalo has worked hard for his chance. Time and time again he has rejected the chance to come out of retirement, even when his good form has had critics pleading for his inclusion. There was always the worry that he would fail to take his chance. Ighalo's performance for Al Shabab is clear to everyone that he is here to comeback and can be counted on when needed. And that is what Rohr has been looking for.

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Ademetan Abayomi has always dreamt of being a sports journalist. His journey began 11 years ago when he created my first sports news page on Facebook, called "Futball Galore" and from there on his passion for sports journalism grew stronger. Now, he is a Sports News Reporter and Feature Writer where he strives to add value and learn as much as he can.

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