Soccer
Super Eagles and Rangers striker, Cyriel Kolawole Dessers, was omitted from Eric Chelle’s 23-man squadlist for the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 30-year-old has been in great form for Rangers this season, scoring 22 goals and providing six assists in all competitions. Dessers made Eric Chelle’s provisional 39-man provisional squad list, but didn’t make the final 23.
Samuel Chukwueze (AC Milan, Italy); Victor Osimhen (Galatasaray FC, Turkey); Ademola Lookman (Atalanta FC, Italy); Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Simon Moses (FC Nantes, France); Sadiq Umar (Valencia FC, Spain); Nathan Tella (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany); Tolu Arokodare (KRC Genk, Belgium), were the attackers in Chelle’s team.
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The omission of the former Cremonese man has sparked very interesting conversations about Eric Chelle’s striking choices.
A maiden call-up was handed to Genk man, Tolu Arokodare, while Sadiq Umar was more of a shocking inclusion.
Quite simply, yes. With 22 goals to his name, Dessers is the second-highest goalscoring Nigerian in Europe this season, just behind Galatasaray’s Victor Osimhen (23).
While no one knows the standards Chelle employed in picking his team, it’s astounding that one of the best strikers in the Scottish League was omitted from a Super Eagles team that are in dire need of sharp goalscorers in case of an Osimhen injury.
While Arokodare’s inclusion is somewhat justified, Dessers will feel hard done by considering Sadiq Umar was picked. The Real Sociedad loanee joined Valencia in January and has scored five goals in 10 games for Carlos Corberan’s side, but that isn’t enough to trump Dessers.
It is also worth noting that Dessers was validated by Jose Mourinho. The ex-Chelsea man labelled the Super Eagles striker as the best player in the world when Rangers trumped Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Europa League last week.
Will Dessers’ exclusion hunt Chelle? Only time will tell, but with his current form, he’s making himself a strong candidate for the AFCON 2025 squad list.
Adefolahan Guerreiro
Adefolahan is a multilingual journalist and writer at Soccernet Nigeria.
With a track record of involvement in College sports, Adefolahan is focused on crafting engaging football content and utilising his language skills and extensive sports knowledge to enhance content accessibility for a global audience.
He has interviewed Nigerian stars like Finidi George, Junior Lokosa, and Abraham Onahi Ogbu.
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