Kano born Alhassan Yusuf taking AFCON by storm

The talented Royal Antwerp FC of Belgium player was only called upon as a replacement for the injured Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester City of England.

The Super Eagles match against Equatorial Guinea was his official Super Eagles debut, where he played only 68 minutes and replaced after injury forced him out, but the 23-year-old Kano born player has ready made a mark for himself, earning him comparison ith Ngolo Kante.

The Nigerian side must do all possible to get Alhassan Yusuf back playing again. No expense should be spared. We will need our best in future matches, especially against host Côte d’Ivoire. Our boys are good, but as Equatorial Guinea is demonstrating, we must not underestimate…

— Reno Omokri (@renoomokri) January 14, 2024

@renoomokri said on X: “The Nigerian side must do all possible to get Alhassan Yusuf back playing again. No expense should be spared.

“We will need our best in future matches, especially against hosts Cote d’Ivoire.”

“Alhassan Yusuf has easily been my best player in the game. Too bad he has to be substituted because of injury. Hope he recovers on time,” @elkrosmediahub saluted on X

“Alhassan Yusuf has a tremendous future ahead of him,” predicted @biolakazeem

His energetic performance earned him comparison with the great Ngolo Kante.

“Nigerian Kante!Alhassan Yusuf,” announced @the_smallie, while @jeff_kashh proclaimed: “This Alhassan Yusuf is giving off Kante vibes, be like antelope e dey everywhere.”

The former IFK Goteborg star got the Super Eagles training camp in Dubai talking on only his first training and when he finally made his long-awaited international debut against Guinea, the team were clear they have got a special present for the AFCON.

“He played with no fear,” remarked a top team official.

“He did very well for a player playing his first game with us.

“He has come to stay.”

Off the pitch, Super Eagles officials said the Kano-born Alhassan is humility personified.

“He is truly simple and easy going, he does not behave like a football star,” another impressed team official told SCORENigeria