Aaron Samuel, the ‘Chinese boy’

However, he came to national limelight in early October when Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi in search of a more potent attack invited him to the national team’s camp in Abuja preparatory to the match against Sudan in Khartoum.As expected, his invitation drew condemnation from Nigerian football fans who felt Keshi should have invited […]

However, he came to national limelight in early October when Super Eagles Head Coach, Stephen Keshi in search of a more potent attack invited him to the national team’s camp in Abuja preparatory to the match against Sudan in Khartoum.
As expected, his invitation drew condemnation from Nigerian football fans who felt Keshi should have invited inform Ikechukwu Uche who was and is still bagging in goals for Villarreal in the Spanish La Liga.
Samuel plays professional football for Guangzhau R&F in the Chinese Super League and so those who kicked against his invitation doubted if anything good can be found in the Chinese league.
Of course they had a point because until recently when stars like Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Emmanuel Olisadebe played there, only a few people followed the Chinese Super League.
Such people were oblivious of the fact that before now some Nigerians like Dominic Iorfa, Garba Lawal, Victor Agali, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Benedict Akwegbu, Henry Makinwa, Peter Utaka and Obi Moneke had played in the Chinese league.
The bullish and dreadlock wearing striker who began his professional career in ICC Shooting Stars of Ibadan in 2012 was invited at the same time with three other ‘unknown foreign based players. He got Keshi’s call along with Anyora Ugonna who plays for Haugesund FC in Norway, Hope Akpan of Reading FC in England and Sunday Emmanuel from SV Grodigin in Austria.
Out of the new additions to the national team line up, only Samuel has stood out clearly. Although he did not get enough playing time, he undoubtedly made maximum use of the short periods given to him by Coach Keshi to justify his invitation to the national team.
 15 October 2014, at the Abuja National Stadium, Samuel made his debut for Nigeria and scored his first goal in a 3–1 home victory against Sudan. He restored Nigeria’s lead in the 66th minute when he acrobatically stabbed home a loose ball after a mix-up between Sudan goalkeeper Akram El Hadi and his defender.
Two weeks later he was to revive Nigeria’s hope of qualifying for Equatorial Guinea when he scored his second goal for Nigeria in a 2-0 away victory over Congo. His curling shot from an acute angle which ensured Nigeria emerged victorious fetched the ‘Chinese boy’ accolades from Keshi who said he (Samuel) did well.
His performance compelled many Nigerians to have a rethink on whether or not players from ‘obscure leagues should be given some degree of attention from national team handlers.
Most Nigerian football fans now believe something good can come from the less popular leagues in Europe and Asia. This is one big boost the ‘Chinese import’ has given his compatriots in the lesser leagues.
Although he started in the match against Sudan in Abuja, Samuel played the remaining two matches as substitute and that did not go down well with some football fans who felt he should have enjoyed more time on the pitch.
Nigerians are happy that a player like Samuel has been brought into the team at a time that the Super Eagles are in need of a striker with his kind of killer instinct.
Former Super Eagles striker, Heyman Abdullahi said Keshi has done well by going as far as China to bring up a player who contributed immensely to the team.
“I am happy with the introduction of Aaron Samuel. His success will serve as encouragement to other Nigerians who are playing in some of the lesser known leagues. There are hundreds of our players in Asia but nobody is ready to give them a chance.”
“I just hope that this will continue and more of such unknown players will be given the opportunity to represent Nigeria in future,” he stated.
Another former Super Eagles player, Coach John Zaki also hailed Samuel’s performance but regretted that the power playing striker was not given enough time to redeem Eagles against South Africa on Wednesday.
“He did well because he is just a new player in the Super Eagles. It is not always easy to blend with other players who have been there before. He scored on his debut and followed up with another crucial goal against Congo DR.
“Personally, I feel if he were introduced earlier in the match against South Africa, he could have scored again to give us victory. As a coach and former player, I cannot question Keshi’s decision to bring in the player so late into the match. But I feel strongly that had Keshi brought him in earlier than he did, he would have done something reasonable with the time,” he said.