Foremost Nigeria’s football developmental coach , Manu Garba, has enthused that striker Tolu Arokodare and defender Igho Ogbu has all what it takes to excel with the Super Eagles after they were both drafted for the first time by coach Eric Sekou Chelle for this month’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
Chelle unveiled his first squad for the Super Eagles on Tuesday by handling maiden invitations to seven players including the Genk forward Arokodare and ‘no nonsense’ Slavia Prague defender Ogbu much to the delight of coach Garba, who incidentally, gave both players their break with the national cadet UI-17 team years’ back.
Regarded as one of the best Nigerian coaches with eyes for talents, Garba who would mark his 60th birthday in December, is happy to have discovered a generation of players to the Super Eagles in recent years
“Igho Ogbu, Bruno Onyemaechi, Super Eagles left back, Tolu Arokodare and Victor Boniface were all with me in the Golden Eaglets class of 2017/18 but unfortunately Boniface’s MRI test results was in the border line and I had to drop him,” the 59-year-old Garba told NationSport. “While I invited Tolu Arokodare after I watched him playing for Box-2-Box Football Academy Lagos at the Legacy pitch, I saw Igho Ogbu playing for Gee-Lec Football Academy Jos.
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“Coincidentally Tolu Arokodare came from the same football academy with Victor Osimhen,” he revealed.
Garba, a two-time FIFA U-17 World Cup winner with the Golden Eaglets in 2007 as an assistant to late coach Yemi Tella and in 2013, as the substantive Head coach, said both Arokodare and Ogbu can stay their claims in the Super Eagles by replicating their club forms for the national team.
Arokodare for instance has been scoring with relish with Genk in the Belgian Jupiler League where he has cracked an impressive 16 goals in 28 appearances in the on-going campaign while Ogbu has impressed as a centre-back for Slavia Prague in the Czech First League.
“This is a good opportunity for both Igho Ogbu and Tolu Arokodare to contribute to the success of the Super Eagles to qualify Nigeria to the World Cup and win the AFCON,” Garba, who led the Flying Eagles to win the CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations in 2015, further told NationSports.“ But then they have to earn a place in the team by replicating the good job in their various clubs for the super Eagles both in training and matches.”
He continued as he dwelled on his other discoveries for the Super Eagles: “Over the years I have discovered talents like Wilfred Ndidi, Taiwo Awoniyi, Moses Simon, Kelechi Iheanacho, Chidiebere Nwakali , Isaac Success, Musa Mohammed, Musa Yahaya, Godwin Saviour, Dele Adeleye, Saviour Isaac, Samson Tijjani, Akin Amoo and host of other great players playing abroad.”