With three victories from their last four matches, and a hard-earned draw against Brazil, the Nigerian national team are on a real high at the moment.
There is a lot of optimism about the future of the team as there are a number of talented youngsters who are close to making their debuts for the Super Eagles.
Here is a look at three players who look destined to play for the national team in the not too distant future, possibly even in 2020.
Tom Dele-Bashiru
The World Cup in 2022, where Nigeria are seen as outsiders at +10000 in the international football betting for the tournament, will be the number one focus for the selectors over the next couple of years. One player who has a great chance of being in the senior team fold before then is Watford’s Tom Dele-Bashiru.
At the age of just 19, Dele-Bashiru has the potential to be a huge star. The midfielder has featured three times for Nigeria’s under-20 side since 2019, which indicates he would be open to committing to the Super Eagles.
Dele-Bashiru played his youth football for Manchester City. He also featured in the senior side in an EFL Cup game against Leicester City in 2017. After recently signing a six-year-deal for Watford, he should get the opportunity to play in the English Premier League over the next 12 months.
Nnamdi Ofoborh
Nnamdi Ofoborh is another player who is developing his game really strongly in England. The 20-year-old has been out on loan at League One side Wycombe Wanders this season where he has played 16 times.
Ofoborh has been with his parent club Bournemouth since 2017. He will have plans of breaking into the first team with the Cherries over the next couple of years. The central midfielder took part in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup last summer where Nigeria were eliminated in the last 16 of the tournament by Senegal. Ofoborh is sure to be a player that Nigeria head coach Gernot Rohr is keeping a close eye on and could give an opportunity to later in 2020.
Henry Offiah
Nigeria have produced some world-class forwards over the last couple of decades and they will be hoping that conveyor belt of talent continues in the future. One player who is starting to get a lot of attention in Europe is Henry Offiah, a 20-year-old striker who plays for Swedish club Dalkurd FF.
Offiah scored for Nigeria’s under-20 team at the World Cup in 2019 against Qatar in his side’s 4-0 success. Although he is still short of experience in senior football, the youngster has shown that he has the ability to have aMmQLEhcmIIY
The Dalkurd FF striker is a product of the Dynamo Football Academy in Lagos. He has been compared by some pundits to Eden Hazard, which says a lot about how highly they regard the forward.
Nigeria still have two African Cup of Nations qualifying games to play. The Super Eagles sit top of the standings on six points after winning both of their opening two matches in the group so they are in a great position to qualify for the finals of the tournament.
