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On two different occasions he missed the chance to play in the
finals of two big tournaments in his young career. Now he has a rare chance to
showcase his football talents at the highest stage.

Lukman Haruna, who also has an Igbo name, Ifeanyi- his mother
hails from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria- is the new sensation soccer
followers across the country are banking on to help the Super Eagles stop the
La Seleccion of Argentina tomorrow at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg in
our opening group game of the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Haruna was one of two key players who missed the final of the
CAF U-17 Championship in Togo in 2007(Daniel Joshua was the other player) after
they were knocked out by knee injuries. He was the captain of the team but he
watched from the sidelines as an extra time pile-driver from Kabiru Akinsola
propelled gave the Golden Eaglets to a lone goal victory over host Togo at
Stade Kegue in Lome.

And less than a year after being fingered for playing a part in
the Flying Eagles’ elimination at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt, Haruna has
found himself a key figure in the Super Eagles’ quest for success at this
year’s Mundial. Surprisingly, it took barely a week of training and two
friendly games for Eagles handler, Lars Lagerback to include him in his World
Cup squad, while former coach, Shuaibu Amodu had the opportunity of working
with the former Eaglets’ skipper for almost two years, yet he was only good
enough as a training material. Haruna played some part in Nigeria’s
preparations during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers but he never got the chance
to prove his mettle under Amodu.

Instant impact

No other Eagles player has enjoyed media frenzy more than the AS
Monaco midfielder in the past one week, which is not surprising because he
seems to possess that important quality that has been lacking in the Eagles
midfield for a long time now- creativity. Even Yakubu Aiyegbeni is already
hoping the young midfielder would help him to achieve his tall dream of
becoming the top scorer in South Africa! With Haruna in the Eagles, the loss of
John Mikel Obi to injury is not expected to have a damaging impact on the
Eagles, like the absence of Didier Drogba may have on Cote‘d Ivoire.

Most people were already giving Haruna the nod ahead of Mikel
(his idol) for the Eagles playmaker role before the Chelsea midfielder decided
to pull out of the competition last weekend. Mikel has not been convincing
going forward, and that is where Haruna has shown promise in the last three
friendlies against Saudi Arabia, Colombia and North Korea. Indeed, Haruna is
one of our few options to produce goal out of nothing against Argentina from
either set plays or in the run of play. He is said to have emerged the best in
shooting practice among the Eagles as the ferocious power of Taiye Taiwo is
fast fading into oblivion.

Talented but fiery

But Lagerback has our own version of Wayne Rooney in the Monaco
man. Talented, yet fiery. The British media have focused their attention on the
need for the Manchester United striker to keep his cool as opponents could wind
him up to be sent off, with their opening game against the United States
tomorrow at Rustenburg looming. They believe Rooney’s dismissal would spell
doom for the Three Lions.

Our Eagles cannot afford to play with numerical disadvantage
against Argentina, so it is hoped our Swedish coach and his technical crew must
have emphasized the need to maintain calm and get the job done for Haruna ahead
of this game. He has so much to prove to Nigerians with his talent. We only
hope he would deliver.