Football
Exclusive: Super Eagles Goalie Amas Obasogie Waiting For His AFCON Time
Super Eagles goalkeeper Amas Obasogie is prepared for his AFCON debut, learning from top mentors and teammates. Former coach Ambrose Vanzekin applauds his talent and patience on his journey to Nigeria’s national team
NFF Media
Super Eagles goalkeeper Amas Obasogie is bidding his time yet prepared to seize his chance after earning his latest invitation to the national team.
The Fasil Kenema safe hands has been called up to the Super Eagles squad on several occasions since the call-up for the World Cup qualification versus Lesotho in 2023 but is yet to debut for the team.
However, he has taken that in good faith and only using the training sessions to learn a thing or two from not just his coaches but from his co-goalkeepers as well while he waits patiently for his time, something his former coach at Bendel Insurance, Ambrose Vanzekin believes will come soon.
Very few have done it like Amas in the NPFL in recent years. After picking up 18 clean sheets (an NPFL record) for Bendel Insurance last season, the 24-year-old is now forging his own path with the 2021 Ethiopia Premier League Champions who he joined in the off-season.
When he played a pivotal role to help Insurance back into the topflight in the 2022/23 campaign, it became clear there was no turning back. And then he brought his talents to bear in the NPFL.
When I was training Amas with Insurance, I knew he was one of the very best we had in the NPFL
Ambrose Vanzekin
And really, he was. So much that two of the very best teams in the division Enyimba and Rivers United launched last-gasp bids to try to lure him to their folds after it emerged, he would leave Bendel at the end of last season.
Amas believes his time will come soon
For the player himself, winning games and qualifying for the biggest tournaments, the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations is all he wants to help the national team achieve at the very moment.
Though he wants to really get involved and give his best to any chance he gets to man the post for the Austine Eguavoen-led side, he's not reading too much into who keeps and who does not. "People will say 'when will you get to play your first game for the Super Eagles', he said with a light-hearted smile.
"I used to get that a lot, but I'm confident in what I can do if given my chance. But what we're committed to now is to qualify for the AFCON, and then the World Cup. That is what should matter. Whenever I'm told to go in there, then I can do it to the very best."
"That time will come, but if you look at our team, you can see that we have some very good goalkeepers", he added.
Nigeria could qualify for the AFCON with a game to spare if they add another point on board next time out versus Rwanda, and that presents a chance to try out some fringe players in the team.
He's a brilliant goalkeeper — Ambrose Vanzekin
Former Nigerian goalkeeper, Ambrose Vanzekin was among the first to witness the scintillating prowess of Amas.
The 2008 Olympics silver medalist who recently left his position as the goalkeeper coach at Bendel Insurance reserved rave reviews for his former ward and praised his determination to get to the very top of his career.
"Amas is a great guy, one of the very best I have worked with," Ambrose said of the player. I already knew he will go on to achieve bigger things, so getting national team call-ups is just like a stepping stone for him."
"It will only get better, because I know he is a good goalkeeper. He will get his chance to show his quality. He is that that good.”
Since he broke loose from the shackles of long hours huddled up in a hot classroom learning Mandarin Chinese and Pinyin at the famous Confucius Institute, UNIZIK, Emmanuel Chinaza has embraced sports and football in particular, and it helped that he grew up in the football-crazy city of Anambra.