Odion Ighalo delivered a poor performance on his Super Eagles second coming after almost 3 years of absence as Osimhen outshone him to help Super Eagles play a 1-1 draw against Cape Verde to qualify for the final round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Lagos on Tuesday (16 November 2021).
Odion Ighalo is expected to lead the youthful Super Eagles attack with his experience but rather he struggled o match the pace of the younger Super Eagles led by Victor Osimhen.
The Napoli FC striker took the initiative from the first minute to give the Super Eagles the lead only for the Blue Sharks to fight back in the sixth minute to restore parity.
The lanky forward delivered a man of the match performance as he was torn in the flesh of the Cape Verde defence line, running down channels with the ball on his feet and taking up good positions off the ball.
However, he lacks the support of Odion Ighalo who is supposed to be the second striker.
Ighalo is always behind Osimhen, providing little or no support and this made going forward difficult for the team as the Super Eagles returning player faded with time as the match progressed.
The highlight of the Al-Shabab FC striker performance on his Super Eagles return was the two scoring chances he missed in flying colours.
The first was a sitter in the 25th minute after he was set up in the box only for him to shoot at goal but missed the ball.
The second was in the air when he failed to connect a free header in the 33rd minutes when he was picked out by Victor Osimhen.
The two chances that he could have easily converted to give the Super Eagles a two-goal lead going into halftime and ease the pressure off the team.
It was a surprise that Ighalo could last one hour and a quarter minutes on the pitch as he was absent throughout the second half till he was subbed off in the 75th minute.
His performance shows he might have seen his best time in the Super Eagles and it will be more honourable for him to have his testimonial match and concrete on his club career.
He played a total of 35 games for the Super Eagles scoring 16 goals before he declared his retirement from the Super Eagles only for him to accept the coach's offer to rescind his decision to help the Super Eagles secure a playoff qualification in Qatar 22 race.
