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Victor Osimhen is Nigeria’s best centre-forward, but is there a case to be made to play Victor Boniface instead against Sao Tome and Principe on Sunday?
Despite the raised eyebrows at the scanty midfield, the Super Eagles’ squad reveal for their final Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sao Tome and Principe was greeted with acceptance instead of irritation.
The excitement at Nigeria’s surfeit of attacking options was not lost on anyone, with Victor Boniface and the talented Gift Orban likely to make their debuts for the three-time African champions.
READ MORE: Overabundance of strikers harms Nigeria's AFCON 2023 chances
Victor Boniface’s outstanding Bundesliga start at Bayer Leverkusen
For the summer arrival from Union Saint-Gilloise, he has taken to life under Xabi Alonso like a duck to water, scoring four times in the Bundesliga and setting up two goals.
Putting what Boniface has done in three games of the German top flight requires added context. It took the former Union SG striker just 24 minutes to register a goal involvement, picking out Jeremie Frimpong to finish from point-blank range to open the scoring against RB Leipzig.
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Although the young striker did not find the back of the net in the 3-2 win, it was not for the want of trying, as he took two ambitious shots from distance and had one close-range header saved.
The subsequent games have seen Boniface score twice against Borussia Monchengladbach and the league’s new boys, Darmstadt. Even if the pick of his goals was the first in last Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of the newly promoted side, the striker’s brace in the 3-0 win over Gladbach will still give Marvin Friedrich nightmares.
For his first, Boniface dropped short to drag the centre-back with him before darting into the box to head home Alex Grimaldo’s assist, and he ran onto Florian Wirtz’s through-ball from Friedrich’s blind side to seal Leverkusen’s 3-0 triumph.
The 22-year-old has benefitted from service from teammates, has shown clever centre-forward play to score and also netted from individual skill in just three Bundesliga gameweeks.
Boniface has not just been about the goals at the embryonic stage of the league — two assists indicate an ability to play well with others, even if his second for Jonas Hofmann was all the right winger’s doing after receiving the Nigerian’s pass outside the box.
The striker’s menace in the dribble at the backend of moves has been eye-catching, with no one in the Bundesliga outranking the Nigerian’s six successful take-ons before a shot or two leading to goals.
Making Jose Peseiro’s 23-man squad was par for the course, but it remains to be seen if he is granted a start, with Victor Osimhen still the Super Eagles’ superstar.
READ MORE: 'Impact' earned me Super Eagles call-up – Boniface
How has Victor Osimhen fared at Napoli under Rudi Garcia?
Not much has changed since Luciano Spalletti was replaced by Rudi Garcia at the Maradona, even if there is a feeling the latter’s appointment in Naples was underwhelming.
A brace in gameweek one meant the defending Serie A champions avoided a major upset at Frosinone, and converting a penalty in the subsequent gameweek against Sassuolo took the Nigerian to three goals.
Osimhen failed to score in Napoli’s 2-1 defeat by Lazio last Saturday, but three goals in the campaign’s opening two matches saw the previous year’s Capocannoniere level with Olivier Giroud and Lautaro Martinez.
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The Inter Milan captain’s brace against Fiorentina and the Frenchman’s penalty at Roma have taken them ahead of the Partenopei frontman, but the gap is not unassailable. Events post-international break will be fascinating.
Whatever happens, Osimhen’s possible participation at next year’s Africa Cup of Nations means he is unlikely to retain the top-scorer’s award won impressively in 2022-23.
READ MORE: Victor Osimhen's unprecedented Capocannoniere
But he will not care if that means Nigeria thrive on the continent in the New Year.
Why Peseiro should play Boniface instead of Osimhen against Sao Tome
This assertion could be unpopular, as Osimhen’s seven goals in qualifying outranks everyone. The Super Eagle’s return is undoubtedly aided by the four strikes in the reverse fixture in June last year when Nigeria blew Sao Tome to smithereens in a record-setting 10-0 triumph.
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14:27 - 07.09.2023
Nigeria vs Sao Tome and Principe: 5 players who inspired Super Eagles vs the Falcons in the first leg
Nigeria Super Eagles and Sao Tome and Principe face off again in the AFCONQ2023 after the reverse fixture ended in a massacre led by Victor Osimhen.
Going into Sunday’s game, only Sadio Mane (five goals) has a realistic chance of supplanting the Napoli striker — Louis Mafouta and Youssef Msakni also have five goals, but The Central African Republic and Tunisia played their sixth game.
Outscoring the field is all well and good, but Peseiro needs to consider the bigger picture.
Kelechi Iheanacho’s late goal to seal a 3-2 victory against Sierra Leone in June secured participation at next year’s finals, and the upshot of that 95th-minute strike gives the Portuguese manager room to experiment in Sunday’s game in Uyo.
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06:14 - 06.09.2023
Super Eagles: Time and Where to watch Nigeria vs Sao Tome and Principe final AFCONQ
What you need to know about the Nigeria Super Eagles final AFCONQ2023 clash against Sao Tome and Principe.
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Pulse Sports took a deep dive into the Super Eagles’ AFCON qualifying campaign, and the team’s reliance on Osimhen was apparent. No player offered anything close to the Napoli striker’s goal threat — goals or shots volume — even if there have been eight different scorers.
READ MORE: Nigeria in AFCON qualifying
Only Terem Moffi and Moses Simon have netted more than once, but the Nice striker’s two goals came in the reverse fixture with Sao Tome, while Simon scored one each against the Sao Tomeans and Guinea-Bissau. The wide attacker’s second was a penalty.
Starting Osimhen from the off means Peseiro misses an opportunity to learn anything new from the side, even if some may question the possibility of that against such lowly opponents.
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Be that as it may, the quality of the visitors to Uyo gives the Portuguese a chance to try something different with little or no pressure surrounding Sunday’s outcome — apart from ending Group A as the section’s winners.
Boniface’s form suggests he should be Osimhen’s first-line replacement in the side, with Peseiro seeing the game as an opening to devise match-winning solutions not involving the Napoli striker — especially as it will not be out of place for the most cynical Super Eagles fan to foresee the Partenopei marksman not featuring at next year’s finals.
Indeed, the journeyman’s short-term contract means a leaning towards the tried and tested approach with personnel may be in the offing on Sunday, thus missing an opportunity to consider the larger picture.
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Peseiro has broadly played with two strikers and started other games with a lone centre-forward, and both approaches are not alien to Boniface.
Sunday offers an opportunity to try something novel. It will be a shame if it is not taken.
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