Leicester City star Wilfred Ndidi will miss the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Central African Republic and that means the Super Eagles will need other defensive midfielders to step up as the main screen for the defence.
Ndidi has made the defensive midfield position in the Eagles his own in the last four years.
It has always been who will pair with Ndidi as the enforcer in the midfield.
Oghenekaro Etebo would have been a viable option for the absent Ndidi against CAR until the unfortunate news came through that the Watford ace has suffered a muscle injury that could rule him out for as long as five months.
Frank Onyeka, Joe Aribo and Innocent Bonke will now be expected to fill the huge vacuum Ndidi’s absence has caused.
Onyeka, for one, has yet to establish himself in the national team even after he came highly recommended during his final season at Danish club FC Midtjylland.
He flopped on his debut against African champions Algeria in October 2020.
But he has since battled his way to the Premier League with promoted Brentford, where he has already left a big impression.
Ndidi’s absence now gives ‘The Tank’ a massive chance to finally hold his own in the Eagles.
The versatility of Rangers star Joe Aribo means he can be deployed in several positions on the pitch including leftback and even attacking midfield.
He got off to a flying start with the Super Eagles in friendlies against Ukraine and Brazil, but he has been far from convincing back in Africa.
He will now be the one to lead both Onyeka and Bonke going by his experience for both club and country.
Bonke made a decent Eagles debut in Cape Verde last month and coach Gernot Rohr already thinks very highly of him.
However, his performances in the UEFA Champions League with Swedish club Malmo have not endearing and he will need to do far more if he hoped to be a mainstay of the national team.
He can bully his way in defence, but that is about it as he does not do much going forward.
Ndidi’s no-show would have been an opportunity for Rohr to run the rule on Alhassan Yusuf, but unfortunately the Antwerp midfielder is currently sidelined by a groin injury.
That is also the case with Kingsley Michael, who made his full international debut against Cape Verde after he has been capped at U17, U20 and U23 levels.
It will certainly be interesting to see who step up in place of Ndidi to boss the Super Eagles midfield against the Central Africans in Lagos and Douala soon.
