Simy Nwankwo primed to ‘gatecrash’ Eagles World Cup squad
The name Simeon ‘Simy’ Nwankwo may not ring a bell among football fans in Nigeria so it is no doubt a surprise inclusion in the provisional 30 man Super Eagles 2018 World Cup list recently released by the team’s Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr.
Apart from Simy and NPFL’s leading goal scorer, Junior Lokosa, the rest of the players have been in the camp of the Super Eagles at one time or another.
Although most Nigerian football fans are conversant with the exploits of Lokosa in the NPFL and are not in the dark as to why he has been handed his first ever invitation, many are wondering what is so special about Simy that he is preferred to better known strikers like Henry Onyekuru, Junior Ajayi and Brown Ideye.
However, for those who know the story of the tall and burly striker who presently plies his trade in the Italian Serie A for Crotone, the answer is not far-fetched. Simy’s recent outstanding performances for his relegation threatened club have earned for him the lifetime opportunity.
This is how he made it to the 30-man provisional list of Rohr. It will be recalled that not long ago, precisely April 18, he scored a superb bicycle kick two weeks after world’s best player, Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the same style against Roma in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match.
Interestingly, Nwankwo also scored against Juventus in a tough Serie A game which secured a vital point for his side.
His goal against Juventus hurt the giants’ fortunes of winning the league as former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny who was in goal for Juve had no choice than to watch the ball enter the net.
Simy born on May 7, 1992 in Onitsha in Anambra State started his professional career in the 2011/2012 season at Portimonese in the Portugese league where he played 68 matches in all competitions and scored 19 goals.
The following season, he moved to Gil Vicente in the Spanish league where he played for three seasons scoring 31 goals in 103 games.
Simy who stands at 6ft 6 inches thereafter joined Crotone in the Italian Serie A. Although his present club is seriously gasping for breath, he has scored 7 goals in 22 appearances in the Serie A.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that even if he is not very popular among Nigerian football fans, Nwankwo is not new to topflight football. Moreover, he has successfully used his recent performances to make a case for himself.
Although he is a newcomer, one thing that should inspire Simy is the story of one Chidi Nwani who ‘gate crashed’ the Super Eagles on the eve of the 1994 to wrestle the central defence role from the captain of the team, late Stephen Keshi.
For those who watched the team at USA 1994, Nwanu proved to be the best defender that the Super Eagles paraded at that World Cup.
A white man, Clemence Westerhof kept aside sentiments and handed the starting shirt to the then KSK Beveren of Belgium ahead of aging Keshi. Westerhof ’s decision didn’t go down well with the ‘cabal’ in the team but he stuck to his guns and his decision paid off handsomely.
Simy is also coming in at a time that a white man who has clearly placed merit before sentiments is tutoring the Super Eagles. Furthermore, Rohr has not hidden his hunger for a striker with physical presence.
It is an open secret that despite the abundant talents in the Super Eagles, they do not boast of a big target man whose physical presence can cause defenders nightmares in Russia.
The tall and big Nwankwo may just be the man that the Franco-German coach is desperately searching for ahead of the World Cup.
Thus, things are looking good for the Crotone man but he must be ready to replicate his club form in the national team to stand any chance of not only making the final list but getting the starting shirt ahead of the likes of Odion Ighalo, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi.
Rohr might provide a level playing field for his players to fight for shirts but Simy must be ready to face and overcome camp politics. The rest of the players have been together for years and in the process built formidable alliances.
He will have to break ‘barriers’ and make sure that he is not frozen by the cold shoulder that new entrants get whenever they come into the national team. Good enough, two international friendly matches are lined up for the team.
It is expected that he would use these matches to justify the confidence reposed in him by Rohr. If he puts up good performances in these friendlies, Nigerians will surely root for him because most of them have never been satisfied with the team’s forward line.
However, if he decides to bring back to Nigerians memories of ex-internationals like Victor Ikpeba, Jonathan Akpoborie and Victor Agali who shone brightly for their European clubs but failed to replicate their form in the national team, he would have disappointed himself and many of his fans.
Although Simy’s recent performances for Crotone have no doubt inspired so much confidence in those who believe he will bring pace and strength to Super Eagles attack, he must be ready to do something extra-ordinary to displace the other strikers in the team.
The tall and big Nwankwo may just be the man that the Franco-German coach is desperately searching for ahead of the World Cup