Rated as the closest to Ahmed Musa by the coach who discovered the Super Eagles vice captain Ahmed Ibrahim, Ibrahim Abubakar Babawo was expected to be the driving force in the attack for the Nigeria U20 team at the ongoing WAFU Championship.
The Plateau United forward is no doubt a player of unquestionable abilities but in the first game between Nigeria and Niger Republic which ended 0-0 questions were asked specifically about how he performed in the game.
We gathered the wing forward was deployed as a right full back by coach Paul Aigbogun same role he played against Kano Pillars in a friendly game as the team don’t have a right full back due to the fact that their options are below the age limit stipulated in the rules of the tournament.
Babawo was saddled with more defensive responsibility, hence couldn’t provide the spark he is known for in attack. As a matter of fact his performance was one of the few reasons why Nigeria didn’t concede in the game.
Tomorrow they will take on Ghana, a game which a draw will be good enough to see them through to the knock out round of the tournament alongside Niger Republic who are already through after beating Ghana and drawing with Nigeria.
