Ahmed Musa Super Eagles forward steps down as assistant captain of team

Super Eagles forward Ahmed Musa has stepped down as assistant captain of the national team.

Ahmed Musa has stepped down as the assistant coach of the Super Eagles (PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)

Musa has been the assistant captain to skipper John Mikel Obi since March 2016.

Before becoming the assistant skipper, Musa was the captain of the Super Eagles following Vincent Enyeama’s controversial exit from the national team in October 2015.

Mikel Obi took over as captain of the Super Eagles in March 2016

Musa has now announced that he won’t be serving as an assistant again, saying he wants to just focus on his game.

According to KweseSports, the Leicester forward addressed his teammates at a meeting on Thursday, March 23 just before their friendly game against Senegal.

“He officially told the team that he is stepping down as assistant captain so that he can focus on playing because the responsibility appears to be affecting his game both at national team and at club level,” an anonymous source is quoted to say by KweseSports.

Before stepping down, Musa is said to have felt humiliated when he learnt that he won’t be wearing the armband for the friendly game against Senegal.

Musa (left) informed his teammates of his decision before the game against Senegal (Pulse)

Technical Adviser of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr had made the decision to appoint Ogenyi Onazi has a captain for the game against Senegal while left-back Elderson Echiejile will lead the team in Monday, March 27 friendly game against Burkina Faso.

According to KweseSports, Rohr wanted the team to be led by ‘a player who plays regularly’.

Musa has found game time hard to come by at Leicester city and has not been even named in their matchday squad since the sacking of Claudio Ranieri in mid-February.

The 24-year-old is said to have been forced to drop the captain band before it was given to Mikel Obi.

According to African Football, Mikel Obi had insisted he will only feature in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers against Egypt in 2016 if he was made Super Eagles captain.

Mikel Obi was said to have forced the captaincy out of Ahmed Musa (NFF)

Mikel made it very clear to then Super Eagles coach Samson Siasia he be made captain if the coach wanted him to play the crucial matches against Egypt,” the report quotes a source as saying.

According to the report, Siasia then held a 40-minute long meeting where he convinced Musa to give up the captaincy.