It’s widely believed in Africa and maybe some other part of the world that the aftermath of every great man can be given much credibility when his offspring achieves better than he did. The current crop of attackers can be linked to this school of thought.
To an appreciable degree, Victor Osimhen and Cyril Dessers have so far shown that the future of the Super Eagles is bright with the two astonishing talents leading Nigeria’s attack at international competitions.
Right from the days of Segun Odegbami (The Mathematical), Adokiye Amiesimaka (The Wizard with the Left foot) Rashidi Yekini et al, Nigeria have been on some ascendancy of some sort. The question that has been on the mind of some elite Nigerians is whether the country will ever parade the kind of attackers like it did in the 80s and 90s.
Apparently, these kinds of attackers may not come again, but currently, the emergence of these young and athletic looking strikers has pulled some feats that have generated arguments and controversies.
Today, Cheapgoals will consider the key areas of an average attacker to discover who edges the other and set an agenda for the two hottest Nigerian attackers in the world right now – Victor Osimhen and Cyril Kolawole Dessers.
The following keys make a proven goal scorer and will definitely be found in every striker:
Passes
It must be stated right here, that these two strikers didn’t learn the basics of football in Nigeria. According to Osimhen, he was taught basic football skills when he was at Wolfsburg, not in Nigeria. While Dessers apparently is a new invitee to the Super Eagles after declaring his intentions to don the Nigerian color last December.
The passing quality of these two prospects definitely compliments each other. The area at which Osimhen is lagging, Dessers can always cover for him and vice versa.
According to WhoScored, Osimhen this season has averaged a total of 12.7 key passes per game, opposed to Dessers’ 20.3
Also, the percentage of successful passes of the two strikers clearly shows that Dessers is a good passer of the ball while Osimhen needs to work more on his pass. Dessers have recorded 69.9% of successful passes; Osimhen’s is 61.4%.
This clearly shows that the Holland-based attacker is a good passer of the ball than Osimhen, and while he (Osimhen) struggles with long passes and through balls, Dessers can always stand in the position to deliver some deadly pass because apparently, Cyril Dessers edges Osimhen in this regard.
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Pace
The two are evenly matched in this department. The selling point of this duo is apparently their pace. The two of them have the ability to quickly explore open spaces left behind by defenders.
Little wonder both of them are joint top scorers at their respective leagues. So, it’s safe to say that when either of the two or the two of them spearheads the Super Eagles’ attack, goals will abound.
Aerial Presence
Another advantage of an average striker is if he’s gifted with height and knows his way about combining how he uses the two effectively (head and feet), he then stands above his colleagues.
Peter Crouch will be eternally remembered not for his headed goals alone, but how he made his physique synergize with his legs and used the two judiciously in banging goals.
Victor Osimhen is heads and shoulders above Dessers. He’s obviously taller than the Heracles forward which gives him the opportunity not to score with the head alone but to also give passes and clear danger balls for his team when it’s time to defend.
Statistics also revealed that across all competitions so far this season, Osimhen has won more aerial duels (9.9) than Dessers (4.2). This goes to show as to who’s more efficient at aerial Presence. Osimhen has netted more headed goals (7) this season than Desser’s (3) headed goals.
Finishing Touch
Now, a striker can be said to be good when he combines the aforementioned areas with his sense to put the goalkeeper in a dicey and terrible situation when they come face to face. Basically, his final touch to put the ball into the back of the net is most important.
Both Osimhen and Dessers have played a pivotal role in their club’s impressive campaign this season, the duo have bagged double digits of goals and this again will be a tight contest as it’s obviously difficult to pick one over the other as a better goalscorer. But in any case, it’ll be interesting to see the two young and astonishing attackers form a hazardous partnership for the Super Eagles.
Dessers have scored a total number of 15 goals in 26 matches this season in the Dutch Eredivisie. With 5 assists registered. While Osimhen in lesser games (25 matches) have scored 19 whooping goals and four assists to his name.
For the Super Eagles, the France bases attacker has netted 3 times in the 2021 AFCON Qualifying matches while the world awaits the spice Cyril Dessers will add to the team when the qualifiers resume.
