IKENWA NNABUOGOR tasks Kelechi Iheanacho to keep the fire burning until he not only earns a recall to the Super Eagles, but also takes on Victor Osimhen for the No 9 shirt…
Kelechi Iheanacho’s current resurgence is timely as well as great for his confidence and gradual return to his once smoking self.
He has to continue the fight to cement his place in the Leicester attacking line as well as win his place back in the Super Eagles.
But he’s not there yet – the Leicester City striker must continue firing in the goodies till he gets his full confidence back to continue from where he left off until bad fate threatened his once superb brilliant self.
Iheanacho fired his Leicestershire side into the fifth round in the FA Cup after his early minute effort consigned hard-fighting Brentford into the archives.
His impressive 2019/2020 FA Cup ride has yet to run into bumps as he buried his third goal in the Brentford visit to fire his side into a touching distance of FA Cup triumph.
His self-discovery of late has sent tongues wagging at the King Power Stadium and back home as stories of his seemingly sinking into oblivion continues to belong to history.
Even England legends notably Gary Lineker, former England goal scoring record holder and Leicester home boy, have showered praise on the total resurgence of the former Manchester City starlet.
What more confidence will fire Iheanacho to doing more for himself and club than the words of encouragement from the “Mr Nice Guy” who himself started his well-documented road to super stardom at Leicester?
This and many more including proving he’s still his impressive old self have done Iheanacho’s confidence a world of good.
But he’s not there yet as he still got some loose ends to tie to return to his once smoking self that saw him netting back to back in his Eagles’ early days.
Had Iheanacho not run into difficult times at Leicester, he would most probably have filled Odion Ighalo’s void when the now retired Eagles’ goal machine currently touted to assume injured Marcus Rashford’s roles at Manchester United, unceremoniously left the scene without much ado.
Combination of poor form and wicked fate had robbed the Owerri home boy the golden chance of leading his country’s attack, but now he’s gamely on the right track to bomb his way back into the Eagles’ ranks.
In truth, his goals, assists and impressive general performance have lifted Leicester in recent times but he will continue these positives to bury the ghosts of his unforgettable poor form.
His fight to regain his place in the Eagles is indeed one of the onerous tasks on the young shoulders of the biggest Golden Eaglets’ poster boy and all that seems to be accomplished now as coach Gernot Rohr appears to have no reason to overlook him.
Eagles regroup again in March to continue the journey to Cameroon 2021 as Iheanacho is set to return to the squad he was last part of in 2018.
Smart money will be on him to prove himself and win back the confidence the ever-critical fans had in him.
But he has to double his efforts to grab the top striker’s shirt from the “new Rashidi Yekini” the Lille of France top marksman Victor Osimhen.
Iheanacho will have to convince the fans he is back and better and the only way to achieve this is to continue keeping his impressive promise at King Power Stadium.
This promise must be total and fit for a prince for both club and country.
Anything short of this may not help his cause.
