EAGLES: Uche Kalu stands out

By onochie Anibeze
Before the Nations Cup qualifier February 29 in Rwanda   Uche Kalu performed above average in training and the friendly match in Liberia.

He clearly stood out as one of the best among the local players.

But when the foreign-based stars arrived for the match in Rwanda Kalu lost his place in the team. It was difficult for Stephen Keshi to field him in place of Osaze Odewengie and Yakubu Aiyegbeni. And with Ike Uche  as the striker on the bench  Kalu could not even find a place among the dressed players.

After 90 minutes in Rwanda, Stephen Keshi and his entire crew regretted leaving out Kalu. Considering the circumstances no one could blame them.

Kalu simply needed to convince the crew more that he has come of age. He has been doing so and even came close to scoring when his jab hit the post in the international friendly against Peru that Nigeria lost last week.

And in the training sessions the Enyimba player has won himself a place and just hopes that he will get a chance against Namibia on Sunday. He scored in training yesterday and may start the match the stars around not withstanding. There are Ike Uche, John Utaka, Victor Moses, Sone Aluko in the team but Kalu will surely get a place even if he doesn’t start. He was good in training yesterday and showed it with his play.

The entire team felt good training, for the first time, on lush green turf of UJ Esuene Stadium yesterday and after their training some of them made a plea to Nigerians especially Calabar fans:

“Don’t panic during the game on Sunday and if goals don’t come early continue cheering for they will surely come.”

This was passed down by stand-in captain Vincent Enyeama.

Calabar has been a great host to them and sports commissioner Pat Ugbe works hard to make the place a home for them.