The two major selection posers for coach Ladan Bosso ahead of tonight’s crucial U20 World Cup Group D clash against Italy are whether he will start match hero Samson Lawal ahead of Victor Eletu and if youngster Salim Fago will keep his place as the arrow head of his team’s attack.
Busy-as-a-bee midfielder Lawal snatched victory for Nigeria against the Dominican Republic Sunday.
As always he was full of running in the game before he was replaced by AC Milan U19 star Victor Eletu.
Eletu had only trained once with the squad before his cameo role, but his presence in a match against players he knows from Italy could be crucial for the Flying Eagles.
“I doubt if Lawal will lose his place to Eletu for this game,” a team official told SCORENigeria
Should that be the case, Eletu will be expected to again come off the bench.
Katsina-born striker Fago was a surprise choice to lead the attack Sunday despite his limited international experience.
Botev Plodiv striker Emmanuel Umeh was widely tipped to spearhead the Flying Eagles charge for goals after his goals in warm-up games against Colombia and the Argentine team Club Almirante Brown.
He replaced Fago when the Mavlon FC star was forced out by injury.
He is a direct-playing centre-forward armed with a physical presence, while the main quality of his main rival is his movements and positioning.
