The Super Eagles of Nigeria made a long-awaited return to International action in a replay of last year’s Africa Cup of Nations Semi-final against Algeria, in Austria. A dismal 1-0 friendly defeat to the African Champions was sealed by a sixth-minute goal by Borussia Monchengladbach’s Ramy Bensebaini from a corner.
It was admittedly a lacklustre performance on Nigeria’s first outing in 11 months with a makeshift side as many regulars were missing.
That proved to mark Tyronne Ebuehi’s first appearance for the Eagles since two promising performances at the 2018 world cup where he left much to be excited about his future in the green and white jersey.
Unfortunately, the 24-year-old got injured in his first early appearances for Benfica after joining the Portuguese giants following his performances in Russia. The right fullback has since worked hard to return from an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury which caused him to miss the entirety of the 2018/19 season.
Against the Fennecs, Ebuehi enjoyed a positive outing especially after such a difficult time in his career. He constantly got forward admirably to assist Samuel Chukwueze and had the recovery pace to get back into his defensive duties and stay tight to his marker.
Ebuehi kept Brentford livewire, Saïd Benrahma, relatively in check such that the 25-year-old found more joy drifting to the centre in the first half. Ebuehi was taken off for debutant Kevin Akpoguma after the hour mark as Benrahma notably grew in influence after he went off.
As the on-loan Twente man formed a solid right-sided defence alongside captain William Troost-Ekong. His proficiency in both phases of play bodes well for Nigeria as he also has the technical quality and confidence to cement the right fullback spot for the coming years.
A lack of quality depth in that particular position was exposed at AFCON 2019 when Gernot Rohr was forced to play central defender Chidozie Awaziem on the right, despite the Porto man’s capable showing at the finals.
Rohr has deployed Shehu Abdullahi, Ola Aina and Awaziem to varying results in a troublesome position and Ebuehi has all the talents to make the right-back spot well and truly his own.
As Nigeria face Tunisia on Tuesday in search of a better performance, Ebuehi stares down a chance to cement his position for the national team. Just as he seeks to get his career back on the upward trajectory.
