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Olarenwaju Kayode could well be Nigeria's solution to finding a prolific out-and-out centre forward, with his impressive strike rate for Austria Wien. Nigeria's Super Eagles next week will reportedly release a list of invited players for a training camp in France at the end of May. Majority of the invited players will form the bulk of the squad for the AFCON qualifier against South Africa in June. Gernot Rohr in his short spell in-charge of the Super Eagles has deployed the trio of Odion Ighalo, Brown Ideye and Kelechi Iheanacho as his starting forwards in four games-three competitive and one friendly. The aforementioned duo with the exception of Iheanacho who netted a penalty against Senegal have all failed to find the back of the net, a loophole in an otherwise balanced team the Franco-German has built till date. Impressively, in a country where her budding talents often fizzle out within five years of playing age grade competitions, Kayode patiently waited six years after his maiden FIFA U-20 world cup appearance in Colombia, before eventually making his national team debut last month against Senegal. In Kayode, Rohr has a thorough bred Nigerian player, who has come through the ranks in the last eight years. He has featured at one FIFA U-17 world cup (2009), two FIFA U-20 world cups (2011 and 2013) and 2011 CAF U-23 Championship. Though the Austrian Bundesliga might not be among the top 5 Europeans leagues, nevertheless Kayode has done well within two seasons, netting 25 league goals and 2 goals in this seasons UEFA Europa League campaign. Nigeria's top scorer at FIFA U-20 level with a total of 5 goals will bring pace, aggression, skill and a fairly decent conversion rate into the Super Eagles attack. The transfer of Odion Ighalo and Brown Ideye to China has left the Nigerian team without a recognised striker playing in a top league in Europe, Isaac Success preferred out wide while Iheanacho is widely regarded as an attacking midfielder whose penchant for scoring is second to none. Moving forward, it is expected that the core of the Super Eagles team will be dominated by Europe based players, and for a player who turns 24 next month, he fits into the generation of youngsters Rohr is building for the future.
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