AFCON 2019: Has Chukwueze Done Enough To Oust Moses Simon From Super Eagles Starting XI?

Published: July 08, 2019

The Super Eagles of Nigeria will battle the Bafana Bafana of South Africa in the quarter-final round of the ongoing AFCON tournament after defeating Cameroon 3-2 last weekend.

Apart from having difficulty in coming up with a winning strategy, Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr will face a slight headache as regards to who should be in his starting lineup between Samuel Chukwueze and Simon Moses.

The 20-year-old Villarreal winger stared in the team's 1-0 victory over Burundi as he was included in the starting lineup by the gaffer.

Despite his fine display against the AFCON debutants, the left-footed winger lost his shirt to Moses Simon in subsequent matches.

Moses Simon is defensively important to the team but his offensive display has left so much to be desired.

He was far from impressive in Saturday's game against Cameroon as he made way for the Villarreal man in the 60th minute.

Though Odion Ighalo was the hero of the night, the spark and grit that Samuel Chukwueze brought into the team at the far end of the pitch can't be overlooked.

Immediately after his introduction into the encounter, Nigeria's attackers were brought back to life.

The Villarreal youngster wasn't afraid to take on the Cameroon defenders in one-on-one situations.

He drew many defenders to himself with his dribbling skills, thereby, creating much space for Ighalo and Iwobi to wreck havoc to the Cameroon defence.

Giving his wonderful display throughout the time he spent on the field of play, it won't be too much to admit that Chukwueze has done enough to earn a spot in Rohr's Starting XI against Bafana Bafana on Wednesday, July 10.

Ibukun Italoye