The decision of the coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Jose Peseiro to leave out red hot Montpellier forward Jerome Akor out of the list of players for the start of the World Cup qualifiers has been made known to OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Akor has taken the French top division by storm following his summer transfer from Norwegian side Lillestrom. He has 7 goals from 11 games this season with only PSG forward Kylian Mbappe ahead of him in the top scorers chart.
He wasn’t called up by Peseiro for the games against Lesotho and Zimbabwe respectively but Nice forward Terem Moffi who has three goals in the same league was included in the list. The debate has been that Akor should have been considered ahead of Moffi based on current form.
Explaining the decision, a source revealed that the coach has Akor in his sight but feels the games in the world cup qualifiers isn’t the right game to try out new players. He picked players who are experienced in the national team and can handle the pressure that comes with such a huge demand.
Moffi gets the nod this time around on the basis of the aforementioned reason but Akor is well within the sight of the coach, who will likely call him up when preparations begin for next month Africa Cup of Nations.
The inclusion of Sadiq Umar, who is yet to get his rhythm after a one year injury lay off is also on that premises with Peseiro having no doubt that the lanky forward will be useful when the team is up against the physical nature of most African teams. The Real Sociedad forward is yet to get off the mark this season.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
