Okechukwu Uchebo, who, in the 66th minute, replaced Michael Babatunde (another Nigerian out of the World Cup) in the match against Argentina Wednesday was wearing his dreadlocks. And few seconds after he came in, his rhythm was not in consonance with that of his team mates. He thronged and thumped more like a Reggae musician than a footballer, funny if not awful. A Nigerian sitting near us yelled “where is this one from? Tony Nezianya of News Agency of Nigeria laughed mischievously and said “from the land of musicians but he is a Nigerian, playing in Belgium.”

His introduction into the match raised many questions among Nigerians on what is happening to Victor Moses. Couldn’t he have come in for Babatunde? This may look a technical matter since Moses plays wide on the left but also can attack from the right. Can he play in the middle? He may but it is left for the coaches to decide. And can he play for the team rather than for himself? This has seen him warming the bench in Brazil. Moses was killing the pace of the team by unnecessarily holding on to the ball and even failing to pass when his team mates were opening up opponents with runs in the pre-World Cup friendlies. He re-enacted this in the first match against Iran. It got so bad that Emmanuel Amenike vehemently protested against his style and Mikel Obi reportedly backed his Chelsea teammate, who is on loan to Liverpool where he sits more on the bench too. Even with his individual tendencies he did well at the last Nations Cup. However, his game has dropped and he seems to be the cause and not the loss of form. He would not release the ball in time and would easily lose it while making runs. Certainly, he has a talent that he is not utilising for the general interest of the team. It showed in the match against Iran. It was said to have angered Emenike who incidentally has also displayed the same character in some ways, although he deserves kudos for his power game that saw Nigeria beat Bosnia 1-0 when he powered past a defender to lay a perfect assist to Osaze who finished brilliantly. Emenike will be a better player if he adds some tact to his brute force. He reportedly frowned at Moses. -

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