This is part of our Series - Who's your Nigeria Footballer of the Year 2015/ 16 Season???
I entered into a twitter conversation with @Christopher_Alex why he thinks Emmanuel Daniel hadn't done enough to win the most prestigious Award in Nigeria....
Statistically speaking, Emmanuel Daniel should win Nigeria footballer of the year Award 2015/16 season. But as you know, some of these Awards can be very subjective to fulfill other marketing objectives..
Fans can easily count how many goals a striker scored without reckoning how many the goalkeeper have saved in the same game. So the attackers get all the accolades and awards in football... and goalkeepers have to work thrice as hard to get such recognitions.
Odion Ighalo, Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, John Mikel Obi, Etebo Ogenekaro... may be favored to win this year's Nigeria Footballer of the Year Award, if the judges are not careful to assess the performances and achievements of goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel... using statistical data.
Of course, he may not be as popular as Odion Ighalo who was pushing all buttons and firing from all cylinders in the first half of 2015/16 season that won him the Premier League Player of the month in January... and media were all about him.
Or perhaps, Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi who has put the Premiership on fire, scoring goals and vitally participating in UEFA Champions league... recently, both of them were norminted for the World's Golden Boy Award... and are making all the headlines
John Mikel Obi has shown he is like a cat with nine lives, ever playing at the highest level, making Chelsea team at the Premier League and very instrumental as captain of Super Eagles and the U23 team that won Bronze medal at the Olympics... they may want to reward him for his unflinching patriotism.
Although, Etebo Ogenekaro may not be playing in a popular league as the Premiership and media may not have been tracking all his performances, but he was more instrumental to U23 African Cup of Nations victory in Senegal...where he finished as the highest goal scorer and in the Olympics... where he scored 5 goals to help Nigeria grab the Bronze medal.
I think goalkeeper Emmanuel Daniel stood out so well for his country this year... justling between Super Eagles Camp, U23 and his club Enugu Rangers... And in several occasions he did a yoo-man's job in saving many goal bound balls that led to U23 AFCON victory in Senegal, Bronze Medal at the Rio Olympics in Brazil and Enugu Rangers NPFL trophy.
Indeed, Emmanuel has shown consistent improvement and indications that he can be the best at the highest level just like his role model Vincent Enyeama. Since his early days at Ranchets Bees in Kaduna, 3SC of Ibadan amd now Enugu Rangers, he has shown a steady rise to stardom... Perhaps, winning the Nigeria Footballer of the year Award this year can now put him in the eye of the media..
