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La Liga new boy, Umar determined to shoot Eagles back to top

By Christian Okpara
07 June 2022   |   3:38 am
Sadiq Umar is one of the most underrated Super Eagles stars. The lad, who first came to national limelight in Samson Siasia’s Rio 2016 Olympics team, has been in and out of the senior national team for a while, but even with the team lacking a consistent marksman,...

Sadiq Umar

Sadiq Umar is one of the most underrated Super Eagles stars. The lad, who first came to national limelight in Samson Siasia’s Rio 2016 Olympics team, has been in and out of the senior national team for a while, but even with the team lacking a consistent marksman, he is the least mentioned name among the array of strikers available for selection.

But he is not bothered so much. Rather, he has been silently doing his thing for his club waiting for time to prove his worth to his countrymen.
AT the last Africa Cup of Nations, where Nigeria surprisingly flopped in the second round, Champions League fixtures and results Umar showed a glimpse of what he can do given the chance. But like every member of that squad, Nigerians had no reason to think much of him.

However, it was at just concluded Spanish second division season that the former Glasgow Rangers boy showed the world that he could be second to none given the opportunity to play.

He led his club, Almeria, to promotion to the La Liga and was named as the club’s best performer of the season. Now, back to the Eagles, Champions League live streaming options where he is among the stars training ahead of Thursday’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone, Umar has promised to do his best to make Nigerians happy.

Coming after Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, Umar sees the game against Sierra Leone as Super Eagles’ opportunity to regain the fans’ trust.

Speaking after yesterday’s training session at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja, ZEbet now have the highest odds Umar said Super Eagles’ first game in the series is crucial as it would set the pace for the country’s subsequent matches on the road to Cote d’Ivoire.

“We have decided to put the failure at the World Cup qualifiers behind us and work hard to build a stronger team for the future.

“We know we made mistakes in the games against Ghana, but it is a new beginning and opportunity for us to show that we are still one of the best teams in Africa.”

Thursday’s game will be Umar’s first match under new coach, Secrets to winning Jose Peseiro, who took over from Augustine Eguavoen after the country’s failure to make the World Cup cut.

He said: “We are just trying to understand what our new coach wants and we hope we can be successful with him.

“Everybody in the team is determined to prove that we can regain our position in African football and the atmosphere is ripe for good football.” Umar, who scored 30 goals in 36 matches to help Almeria secure promotion to La Liga, is looking forward to rubbing shoulders with thye big boys of Spanish football.

The 25-year-old striker, who got the Golden Shovel for being the Player of the Season for Almeria in the 2021/2022 season, Over 2.5 says he is looking forward to life in the big league.

“I am happy to help Almeria get promotion to the La Liga and I cant wait to play there. It is the best place for good players to be,” he said.

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