10 Nigerian talents who showed promise but faded away

Over the years, talents have popped up on the Nigerian football scene, showed promise and went on to achieve success in their various careers.

Worthy of mention are the likes of Nwankwo Kanu, Celestine Babayaro, Sunday Oliseh, Daniel Amokachi, Victor Osimhen, Emmanuel Amuneke, Victor Ikpeba, John Obi Mikel etc.

These players helped Nigeria win the Africa Cup of Nations, Olympic football gold medal and also claimed league titles in top foreign clubs.

Some of them went as far as being crowned CAF Player of the Year. Among them are Kanu, Amuneke, Ikpeba and most recently, Victor Osimhen.

Unfortunately, it has not always been all rosy as there have also been others who emerged on the scene with a bang but fizzled out.

In this piece, The Guardian lists 10 Nigerian talents who showed promise but failed to live up to the hypes and expectations of football fans.

ETIM ESIN:

Regarded as one of the most talented player to ever come out of Nigeria Etim Esin, unfortunately, never lived up to the promise he showed in the early part of his career no thanks to off field issues.

The hopes of millions of Nigerians was heaped Esin’s young shoulders as Nigeria’s Flying Eagles prepared for the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile in 1987.

Unfortunately, after leaving camp, he was shot by armed robbers in Surulere, Lagos, but recovered in time to make the Flying Eagles squad for the World Cup whose campaign ended in disaster, as they crashed out in the group stage.

“I think the distraction from my gunshot and my inclusion in the team affected us because no one expected me to recover on time and also be able to make the team,” he said in a 2016 interview with The Cable.

“My making the team was a very big distraction for the others. We had one of he best squads then but cohesiveness wasn’t there. So, we lost to Brazil, we lost to Italy and drew with Canada. It was the best team in Africa then. The junior national team. Everyone hoped on us. We even thought we would come back with the cup.”

Esin was then involved in one of the biggest scandals involving a Nigerian footballer after he was accused of raping his then girlfriend in Belgium who at that time was 16.

He was later cleared of the accusations but it is believed that the scandal ended his promising football career as he never had the opportunity to showcase his talent at the Africa Cup of Nations and FIFA senior men’s World Cup.

PHILIP OSONDU

The late Philip Osondu came to limelight when he featured for the Golden Eaglets at the Canada 1987 U-16 FIFA World Cup where he helped Nigeria reach the final.

Despite losing to the Soviet Union via penalty shootout, Osondu was awarded the Golden Ball award for his impressive performance for the Golden Eaglets.

Osondu went on to make the Flying Eagles squad to the Saudi 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup as the team went all the way to final only to lose 2-0 to Portugal.

It was believed that Osondu would go on to greater things as everyone believed the next step for him was the Super Eagles as his impressive outing at the U-20 World Cup earned him a move to Anderlecht.

However, Osondu never made the step up compared to his Flying Eagles teammates like Mutiu Adepoju and Nduka Ugbade, as he struggled in Belgium, bouncing from one unknown club to another before hanging his boots in 2004.

He tragically died in 2019 at the age of 48 while working in Namur ( a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium). He felt unwell and was then picked up by an ambulance, and taken to a hospital, but died shortly thereafter.

RABIU IBRAHIM

Rabiu Ibrahim’s emergence made Nigerians believed finally the heir to the legendary Austin Jay Jay Okocha had been found.

Ibrahim was part of the Golden Eaglets team under the late Yemi Tella that won the 2007 CAF U-17 Cup of Nations in Lome, Togo.

That same year, he was in the Eaglets squad that went on to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea.

He also featured for the Flying Eagles and under Samson Siasia, was a member of the team to the U-20 World Cup in 2009 in Egypt where they lost in the round of 16.

Everyone believed it was just a matter of time before Ibrahim take over the Super Eagles midfield and make it his own for a long time,
but things never went as planned as he made just five appearances for the Super Eagles

He was included in the Super Eagles squad by German coach Berti Vogts for the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, with his U-17 teammate Haruna Lukman. However, a groin injury prevented him from participating in the tournament.

He earned his first full cap for the Super Eagles on 13 June 2015, playing for 32 minutes in a 2–0 home win over Chad in Kaduna for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

At club level, he signed for Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon in 2009 but did not make any appearances and joined PSV in 2011 and had two appearances.

He signed for Celtic ahead of the 2012/13 season but could only boast of one appearance before moving on to clubs like Kilmarnock, Trencin, Gent and Slovan Bratislava.

AMBROSE VANZEKIN

Ambrose Vanzekin wss in goal for the Golden Eaglets to the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland alongside the likes of John Obi Mikel, Chinedu Obasi, Bala Ezekiel and Kolawole Anubi. Under the guidance of Austin Eguavoen the Eaglets failed to progress beyond the group stage.

Vanzekin moved up to the Flying Eagles amd featured prominently as the team won the 2005 CAF U-20 AFCON and reached the final of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands in the same year, only to lose to an Argentine-inspired Lionel Messi side.

He kept progressing and this time stepped up to the U-23 Eagles and helped the team get to the final of the 2008 Beijing Olympics football event where, once again fell to Argentina with Messi in action.

After his exploits with the junior sides it was hoped that the next point of call for Vanzekin was the Super Eagles which, unfortunately, never came hence his international career came to a halt.

Since retiring from professional football, things have not been rosy for Vanzekin.
In September this year, the 38-year-old shared his financial ordeal in a video on his Tiktok page.

Vanzekin who was appointed as the goalkeeper trainer at Insurance in 2021 — a few months before the club gained promotion to the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL), said he was paid N75,000 monthly which was not even sufficient for transport costs.

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He added that he begged for cash from people to attend training sessions and owed people all over my community.

He said after his remuneration was increased, transportation fees consumed almost everything and he had to trek long distances at times to make training sessions and had to resign from the club.

SUNDAY MBA

Sunday Mba was the revelation for the Super Eagles side that emerged Africa Cup of Nations winners in South Africa in 2013.

Mba scored crucial goals which contributed to the Super Eagles clinching a third continental title. His first goal of the tournament was the winner in the 2-1 victory before netting the only strike in the final against Burkina Faso.

He helped the home-based Super Eagles qualify for the 2014 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) for the first time ever and featured at the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil.

Unfortunately, he was not part of the Super Eagles squad that took part at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

With his exploits at the 2013 AFCON, it was the believe of everyone that Mba would be around in the Super Eagles for years to come, but that was not the case as he spent just two years, from 2012 to 2014 before fizzling out.

He signed for French club Bastia but spent just one season (2014/2015) there and between 2015 and 2017 he was with Yeni Malatyaspor.

BARTHOLOMEW OGBECHE

Bartholomew Ogbeche showed promise during the Super Eagles friendly games prior to the 2002 Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup.

One of such games was the 1-1 draw with Paraguay where he attempted a spectacular overhead kick which was palmed away by the keeper.

He made the final squad for the 2002 World Cup but failed to impress in the two games he featured in (against Argentina and Sweden) as the Super Eagles crashed out in the group stage.

He was part of the Super Eagles squad that took part in the three-team Unity Cup invitational tournament in 2004 that also featured Republic of Ireland and Jamaica.

He never got the chance to get back into the team again as he was continuously overlooked in subsequent invitations before eventually calling it quit with the national team.

Still a youngster, he was signed by Paris Saint-Germain, making his debut with the main squad during the 2001–02 season. However, he failed to settle, and was loaned out.

He then became a journey man and appeared for clubs like Valladolid, Kavala, Cadiz, Alaves, Middlesbrough, Hyderabad, Mumbai City and Kerala Blasters.

DIMEJI LAWAL

A pacy and tricky right winger, Dimeji Lawal played for Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets in the 1987 FIFA U-16 World Championship in Canada where they lost to Soviet Union in the final on penalty shootout.

Also, he made the squad to the 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia and helped the team get to the final only to fall to a 2-0 defeat to Portugal.

Lawal had done enough to get the attention of the Super Eagles coaching crew under Clemens Westerhof and scouts from Europe.

He had the perfect start as a Super Eagles player as he scored on his debut, in a 1992 African Nations Cup qualifier against Togo in 1990 which ended 3-0.

But Lawal ended up just playing three games with just one goal to his name as a Super Eagles player and never got the chance to play at the AFCON or FIFA senior men’s World Cup.

He moved to Spain at age 18 and signed with Real Madrid, and would spend two seasons with the B team, one in the Segunda División and one in Segunda División B.

He was never promoted to Madrid main squad, and returned to Nigeria to play for Shooting Stars F.C.

In 1993, he joined Belgian Second Division side K.V. Kortrijk for one season and played in the South African Premier Soccer League with Hellenic FC in 1994.

SANI EMMANUEL

Sani Emmanuel rose to prominence during the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup which was hosted in Nigeria.

He finished the tournament with five goals being the joint top-scorer and won the Golden Ball award as he helped Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets to a runners-up finish behind Switzerland.

After doing well for the Golden Eaglets, he graduated to the Flying Eagles and made just two appearances in 2011 without scoring.

Also, he had an uneventful club career, moving from one club to another without

In 2012 Emmanuel signed for Lazio but did not make a single appearance for the club and joined the likes of FC Biel-Bienne (loan), FC Biel-Bienne (loan), and Beitar Jerusalem.

In October 2014 after signing with Beitar Jerusalem, three weeks later, after playing only 24 minutes for the club, he was released with the club stating that the coach was not excited by him and that he did not feature in future plans.

After leaving Beitar Jerusalem, Emmanuel had a trial at Bosnian side, FK Sarajevo, but failed in his attempt.

MACAULEY CHRISANTUS

The tall striker featured at the U-17 World Cup and was the top scorer at the 2007 edition in South Korea with seven goals, and was awarded the adidas Silver Ball.

He then went on to be a part of the Flying Eagles making four appearance amd scoring just one goal.

With the hope that the Super Eagles have found the new Rashidi Yekini, it was not to be as Macaulay never got an invitation from the coaching crew.

He ended up becoming a journey man, junketing from one club to another as he found it difficult stay at a club for a long time.

Among the clubs he played for are Murcia, Zob Ahan, Hetten, FF Jaro, Reus, Sivasspor and AEK Athens.

HARUNA LUKMAN

Just like his former Golden Eaglets teammates like Rabiu Ibrahim and Chrisantus Macaulay, Haruna Lukman showed promise but never lived up to expectations.

He was captain of the Golden Eaglets to the 2007 U-17 World Cup in South Korea and also played at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt.

Lukman then made the Super Eagles squad to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and was in action against Argentina and Greece.

Unfortunately he never became a mainstay in the Super Eagles as he was overlooked in subsequent call ups by coaches.

Among the clubs he played for are AS Monaco, Dynamo Kyiv, Astana, Palanga, Anzhi Makhachkala (loan), Hoverla Uzhhorod (loan).