Nigeria have long waited for a striker who will take the responsibility of scoring goals for the Eagles since the days of the late Rashidi Yekini.
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The likes of Julius Aghahowa, Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins at some point were regarded as the men to take on the Eagles goal-scoring responsibilities, but none of them could match the exploits of the legendary Yekini.
With nine goals from 18 matches for Nigeria, Emenike has emerged as the country’s new king of goals, who if he maintains his scoring rate could outdo the 37-goal milestone set by the great Yekini.
He is strong, a cool head in front of goal and has already proved he is a prolific scorer at his various clubs.
He is only 26 and if he only he could stay free of injuries and on form, he will plunder many more goals for the African champions.
His confidence has been boosted by his exploits at his Africa Cup of Nations debut earlier this year in South Africa, where he emerged as top scorer with four goals to help Nigeria win a third continental diadem.
Incidentally, his Eagles debut against Sierra Leone in February 2011 had gone horribly wrong when he was forced out of the game by injury midway through the first half.
But like he has shown at his various clubs, his resolve to defy the critics has since seen him become the toast of a country of 160 million football fans.
His first Eagles goal was pure class as he lobbed the ball past a stranded Argentina goalkeeper as Nigeria thumped the two-time world champions 4-1 in a friendly in Abuja two years ago.
Emenike began his career with Delta Force in Nigeria before he moved to South Africa, where he featured for Mpumalanga Black Aces and FC Cape Town.
His stocks rose considerably when he joined a modest Turkish club Karabukspor where his goals catapulted them to the top flight.
He then netted 14 goals for Karabukspor in the top flight to catch the attention of giants Fenerbahce.
In the summer of 2011, Fenerbahce signed him for £7 million, but didn’t play a single game for the Istanbul giants before he was on the move again amid a match-fixing scandal that rocked the club.
He moved to Russia, where he teamed up with Spartak Moscow for a fee of £9 million and was an instant hit, he scored his first goal in Russia in a 1-1 draw against city rivals CSKA Moscow and went ahead to score a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in another derby.
He scored 21 goals in 42 games, again an average of a-goal-a-game.
He has yet to score for Fenerbache since his switch in the summer, but you cannot bet against him to come good yet again.
Emenike’s Goals for Nigeria
International Friendly
Nigeria vs Argentina in 2011 4-1(1 goal)
2014 World Cup qualifier
Nigeria vs Malawi 2 – 0(1 goal)
2013 AFCON
Nigeria vs Burkina Faso 1 – 1(1 goal)
Zambia vs Nigeria 1 – 1(1 goal)
Cote d’Ivoire vsNigeria 1 – 2(1 goal)
Mali vs Nigeria 1 – 4(1 goal)
International Friendly
Nigeria vs Burkina Faso 4-1 (1 goal)
2014 World Cup Playoff
Ethiopia vs Nigeria 1 – 2(2 goals)
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