These two Nigeria internationals have played crucial, if somewhat understated roles, in their respective sides’ progress to the Champions League final
On Wednesday, South African sports cable content provider Supersport announced they had secured the rights for the broadcast of the 2021 Caf Champions League final.
While the presence of Kaizer Chiefs in their first-ever continental final no doubt played a part in the decision to pursue the license, the announcement was greeted with universal approval by journalists and other stakeholders in African football.
In Nigeria, the second-largest customer base of Multichoice (owners of Supersport), the news barely registered, however. It is not difficult to understand why: over the years, Africa’s most populous nation has endured a difficult relationship with the Caf Champions League.
When Enyimba, hopped up on the commonwealth of an entire state, became the first Nigerian club to win the competition in 2003, and then repeated the feat the following year, it was seen as the end of a hoodoo, the breaking of a glass ceiling.
However, since that historic double, only once – Heartland FC in 2009 – has a Nigerian club reached another final.
As a result, Nigerian interest in the competition has slowly atrophied, as time and again the country’s representatives have failed to play a decisive role in the ultimate destiny of the trophy.
This final, however, merits closer observation.
Look beyond the surface identity and nationality of Saturday’s competitors and there are important Nigeria-centric storylines to sink the teeth into.
On the Al Ahly side of things, there is forward Junior Ajayi. The Nigeria international has, over the course of five years, established himself as a key cog in the Ahly winning machine, and played a crucial role in the Egyptian giants’ Champions League triumph last time out.
The former Shooting Stars forward has endured a stop-start campaign to date, with a number of injuries hampering his rhythm and seeing him lose his place in the starting line-up for the Red Devils.
This, combined with the form of Mohamed Afsha, has reduced Ajayi to a bit-part role.
He did, however, provide an important contribution in the knockout stages, marking his return from a lengthy lay-off by coming off the bench in Ahly’s quarter-final first leg over Mamelodi Sundowns to assist Salah Mohsen for a crucial second goal that decisively took the tie away from the Brazilians.
Considering he has not featured for the nine-time African champions in any of their last four league matches, it is unlikely he will be selected to start on Saturday.
However, his discipline and dynamism in the final third make him a valuable asset to call upon in any phase of the game, and coach Pitso Mosimane is a big enough fan of his abilities that he has included him in the squad to Casablanca.
While Ajayi could well influence proceedings whether he starts or not, Super Eagles goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi is part of a three-way tussle for a starting spot for Kaizer Chiefs. If he loses out to either Bruce Bvuma or Itumeleng Khune, his semi-final heroics against Wydad Casablanca will very likely be his final contribution to Amakhosi’s cause.
It would be almost unfair, considering that Stuart Baxter’s side would certainly have buckled under the weight of, not just the Moroccans’ attack, but the memory of their close shave in the previous round against Tanzanian side Simba.
This time though, there was no capitulation, in large part due to Akpeyi making a whopping seven saves and earning the Man of the Match award afterward.
It was an overdue bit of redemption for the 34-year-old, who has enjoyed a decidedly mixed time of things since joining the Glamour Boys.
First backed when Chiefs’ legend Khune got injured, Akpeyi’s ability to flit between the sublime and the ridiculous made his incumbency a hard sell, and allowed erstwhile third-choice Bvuma to not only get his foot in the door, but put them up on the sofa with a couple of impressive performances of his own.
With all three in with a chance of starting, Baxter has quite the job on his hands making a decision that could very well define the destiny of his team in Saturday’s final.
It is one that will also have a significant bearing on Akpeyi’s fading international prospects with Nigeria, for whom he has not started a game since a 4-2 win over Lesotho in Africa Cup of Nations qualifying in 2019. Starting a Champions League Final (and impressing) lends precisely the sort of cache that would make him interesting once again for Super Eagles boss Gernot Rohr.
Similarly, Ajayi has struggled to earn the recognition he arguably deserves, largely on account of playing within the continent.
Capable of doing a job upfront or from out wide, it can seem an oversight when Ahmed Musa, sans club, and Ayomide Marcus, playing out of the Portuguese second division, were handed call-ups in the most recent international window. Should he prove decisive, even in a limited capacity, it would make a more eloquent case than any amount of public outcry would.
The final may be contested between clubs from Egypt and South Africa, but there is good reason for Nigerian audiences to tune in on Saturday.
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