Black Stars of Ghana skipper, Asamoah Gyan, has showered praises on Nigerian youth striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, for his work rate and contribution to the Golden Eaglets success so far at the FIFA Under 17 World Cup in UAE.
“I like him, that No18, Awoniyi,” said Gyan, who has played in the FIFA World Cup and knows a thing or two about life as a striker. “He does all the work up there and creates a lot. This is my kind of player.”
When Gyan’s praises are passed on to young Awoniyi after the game, his face lights up like a bulb.
“Wow,” he said bashfully, shuffling his feet on the floor. “He (Gyan) is such a great striker and he knows that it isn’t always about scoring. A lot of times you have to work hard so that your teammates can be the ones to get the goals.”
Awoniyi knows better than anyone that his time is limited as the Golden Eaglets’ Coach, Manu Garba, pulled no punches after the Iran win about who he prefers upfront.
“When Success gets to 75 per cent fitness, we will use him again,” the coach said of Isaac Success, whose spinning volley against Sweden will go down as one of the best goals in tournament history.
“Our attack revolves around him.”
While Awoniyi won’t like to hear his coach prefers Isaac’s 75 per cent to his 100 per cent, the No 9 isn’t expected to hit that fitness mark until at least the semi-final stage.
So Awoniyi will have another chance to give his all once more in the quarter-finals. “When you make yourself ready for great things, great things can happen,” he said, smiling shyly while teammates filed past and patted him on the shoulder, his coaches winking at him warmly, happy for his moment of attention.
“Success (Isaac) is a serious player and when he’s fit, he’s going to be starting but when I’m needed I’ll be ready,” Awoniyi said.
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