African Nations Championship (CHAN) is a tourney exclusively reserved for the locally based players in the respective African leagues. The event which is held biannually has over the years provided several young African talents the opportunity to explore their talents; this year’s edition is no exception.
Is this just a tourney to give home based African players the opportunity to play against peers? Of course no, this is more than just a tourney and every 90 minutes on the pitch is more than a match. It is a gateway to the realization of dreams.
Amazingly, this year’s edition is a dream comes true for 15-year-old Nigeria Muhammed Nur. On January 15, 2018 Nur made history in the CHAN tournament. He became the youngest player to feature in the tournament when he came on as substitute against Rwanda during their group stage match.
Nur didn’t see this coming, but was hopeful like every other aspiring talent would do at the starting point of their career. As a kid growing up, he considered Arsenal and German attacking midfielder Mesut Ozil as his role model and an admirer of compatriot John Mikel Obi.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Honestly, I did not expect that. I started my career a year ago and I am already playing a major tournament like CHAN. It’s a real fairy tale. In addition, I made an appearance against Rwanda in the first match. While playing in my neighborhood, I didn’t expect that one day; I would become an international and don the colors of Nigeria,” Nur said in an interview with CAF Online.[/perfectpullquote]
Talents don’t hide. Nur’s talent was spotted on the street where he started off as a player. He later joined a youth team, El Kanemi Warriors before his recent call to wear the national colors of the Super Eagles.
Motivation beats talents, the 15-year-old is now one of the most talked about since his historic debut, thanks to head coach Yusuf Salisu for his selection. This serves as a motivation for him. However, talent is never static. It’s always growing or dying. This tournament has paved the way for Nur in his quest to become an international icon like his role model Ozil, but the task is now up to him to grow his talent.
Image: NFF
