December 14, (THEWILL) – Following the departure of Super Eagles’ manager Gernot Rohr, Watford striker Emmanuel Dennis could be called up to represent Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) next month in Cameroon.
The German had been in command of the Super Eagles since 2016, but was stripped of his duties on Sunday, only a few weeks before the competition begins. But, his dismissal might suddenly affect the situation for one or two players, notably Dennis, who had been overlooked by Rohr even after a strong start at Watford.
Despite scoring seven Premier League goals since joining Vicarage Road, the versatile forward has been left out of all recent international breaks. In fact, he has not appeared for Nigeria since a six-minute cameo off the bench against Sierra Leone in November last year.
That did not appear to be changing anytime soon over a week ago, with insiders close to the Nigerian set-up revealing that Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho, and Racing Genk’s Paul Onuachu were all ahead of Dennis in the pecking order under Rohr.
While it is unclear whether the Watford forward will now be selected, his chances have surely improved.
Augustine Eguavoen, a former captain of the senior men’s national football team, will assume Rohr’s responsibilities for the AFCON while the football governing body continues the hunt for a permanent replacement. It is therefore up to Eguavoen whether Dennis is selected or not.
If the striker gets included in the team to Cameroon for the tournament, it will be a major blow to the Hornets, who will have to prepare to be without their top scorer until at least the end of the group stage, which runs from January 18-20, as well as losing the likes of Imran Louza, William Troost-Ekong, and possibly Adam Masina, if he recovers in time.
Teams for the African Cup of Nations are expected to meet on December 27, which means those players will miss games against West Ham, Tottenham, Leicester in the FA Cup, Newcastle, and Norwich.
But the Hornets’ loss will be the Super Eagles’ gain especially given the recent form of the striker, whose goals against Manchester United, Chelsea, Leicester and Everton have earned the affection of the Watford faithfuls, who will not be too pleased to be without him for the duration of Nigeria’s participation in the 2022 AFCON.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
