Super Eagles and Lazio youngish midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru is grateful to earn the trust of Coach Austin Eguavoen to justify recalling him to the senior national team, but he’s still amazed that he would get the shirt ahead of his older brother Tom Dele-Bashiru, who plays for the England Championship side Watford.
The 23-year-old who scored for Nigeria in his debut game and saved Nigeria from defeat in the hands of South Africa, said he felt his brother stood a better chance of getting the call up after representing the country at the U-21 national team-the Flying Eagles.
Speaking in Uyo during the first of the double header against Libya in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, the lanky player said he was, nevertheless, grateful to be given that rear opportunity.
“I’ve always been surprised that I would be given an opportunity to play for my country at this stage of my career. I’m grateful for the opportunity and do not take it for granted. Tom (Dele-Bashiru) is equally doing well and he has played for the national team at the youth level before me and we are always talking about it. I didn’t know I would be considered for the Super Eagles before him. I’m happy for the opportunity.”
He added that Tom is equally pleased with him. “We laugh over it and I intend to make proud like he has been making the family proud.”
Fisayo has quickly grown to be an integral part of the Lazio core team following splendid performances in the Serie A and on the opening day of the Europa League.
He earned special praise from teammate striker Boulaye Dia after the Europa League game against Dynamo Kiev.
The Biancocelesti began their European campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in Hamburg. Dia and fellow new signing Dele-Bashiru were the main stars of the show. The Senegalese attacker broke the deadlock early on while the Nigerian midfielder doubled the lead with a superb strike. They then combined to score the third and final goal of the encounter.
In his post-match interview with Lazio Style Channel (via La Lazio Siamo Noi), Dia applauded his team for making short work of their opponents in the first half and the way they managed the encounter after the break.
He said: “It’s an important victory away from home. We scored three goals straight away and then we managed the action. It was important to avoid conceding a goal, as the opponent could have regained momentum.”
The former Salernitana man also reserved special words of praise for his teammate Dele-Bashiru who opened his account for the club.
“Fisayo can do everything, and for me, it’s a pleasure to play alongside him. I’m here to do my job as good as I can. But I’m always happy to help the team by scoring goals.”
Dia’s Europa League brace raised his tally to four goals since joining Lazio in late August. He had already scored twice in Serie A against Milan and Hellas Verona.
The Italian newspapers crowned Dia as the Man of the Match following his brilliant display against Dynamo Kyiv, but Fisayo Dele-Bashiru wasn’t too far behind.
The Biancocelesti started their Europa League campaign in fashion, beating their Ukrainian opponents by three unanswered goals, all coming in the first half. With Taty Castellanos only fit enough for the bench, Dia spearheaded Marcon Baroni’s lineup and managed to inflict the damage upfront.
The Senegalese striker scored the first and third goals, earning the highest grades in the player ratings of most Italian newspapers. His notes varied between 7.5 and 8/10.
On his part, Dele-Bashiru scored a fabulous strike and delivered the assist for Dia’s second goal. Hence, the Nigerian also earned impressive ratings (7/10 and above).
Ivan Provedel also received the plaudits for a formidable display between the sticks which earned him his maiden clean sheet of the season. Nicolo Rovella and Pedro also earned high marks as published by LazioNews24.
TOM DELE-BASHIRU
Tom is also not doing badly as he helped Watford secure a win over Sunderland last weekend.
The midfielder coolly delivered the 84th-minute winner via the penalty spot against Sunderland.
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The match finished 2-1 in Watford favour.
He said after the game. “You just need to focus on getting the right contact with the ball and putting it into one of the corners.
“I like a short run-up. I look into the keeper’s eyes and I’m confident.
“With penalties, the attacker has the advantage. As long as you hit the target and keep it low you always have a chance of scoring.”
Dele-Bashiru looked confident and comfortable taking the spot-kick.
“I didn’t feel any pressure with this penalty,” he said.
“I’m very good at handling pressure situations. I really dial in my focus on the matter in hand to make sure I score the penalty.
“Penalties are something I’m very confident about and we practice a lot. I always back my ability to score from the spot.
“Taking penalties in training is different to a game, where there is pressure. But you have to stay focussed.
“I said early in the season that adding goals to my game would be very important for me. Adding goals and assist will take my game to the next level.
“I’ve been working hard in training to improve on that.”
The midfielder paid tribute to the role substitute Kwadwo Baah played in turning a draw into a victory.
“We had to hang in there, then KB came on and changed the game for us,” said Dele-Bashiru.
“He’s a great player, he won the penalty and I dispatched it.
“KB does it all the time in training. He’s been at Watford for a while but this season the manager has said he has a new energy, a different focus and he’s really dialled in.
Dele-Bashiru also spoke highly of fellow goalscorer Festy Ebosele.
“He’s such a good player – very explosive and so quick.
“He hasn’t played much since he arrived, but he came in for the Cup game against Manchester City and then started again against Sunderland. He’s doing really well.
“The way we play, it’s important to get the wing backs high up the pitch, so he’ll always be in a position to score.”
Like his manager, Dele-Bashiru felt the match turned at half-time.
“It was literally a game of two halves,” he said.
“First half, we were in control and we had a few chances to kill the game off – counter-attacks where we could have done better with the final pass or with the decision making in the final third.
“In the second half we lost control of the game a bit.
The need to maintain the impressive form at Vicarage Road since Tom Cleverley came in is not lost on Dele-Bashiru.
“At the start of the season, Tom and the coaching staff spoke to the boys about making Vicarage Road a fortress.
“It’s very important to us to reconnect with the fans because they really push us on. Now we take real confidence from going into home games. We’ve made that reconnection.
“There have been a lot of ups and downs in the past but this season feels really different.
“That spell without a home win last season was really difficult.
“You always want to win every game and it’s not like we went into games not trying or not giving our best, but sometimes these things happen.
“Since Clevs has come in, there’s a new belief.”
Dele-Bashiru also spoke of the role Cleverley has played in improving him personally.
“The gaffer’s great. When he came in last season, he put a lot of confidence into me.
“He told me his plan for me and how he wants to play, with me getting on the ball a lot. In training, he’s always giving me ways to improve and taking my game to the next level.
“Honestly, for me he’s one of the best coaches I’ve had.
“He understands the club inside out, speaks with a lot of authority and gets his ideas across.
“He’s a great guy away from football as well.
“Since he came in, we have won or drawn games that we would have lost before he took over.”
