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

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, 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, 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, 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