The saying goes that the down fall of a man is not the end of his life. It is also said that no man is defeated because he is knocked down except if he refuses to get up. Life is full of twists and turns, sometimes appears unfair especially when it throws hard punches at you.
When you treat every obstacle in your life as a rung in the ladder of success you will keep moving up and onward to bigger and better things. Failure actually is not the end of the road as many people usually conclude.
Many times it is the beginning of a new and more exciting trip. It is never too late for a new beginning. There is no better way to describe the success story of Kelechi Iheanacho, the rave of the moment for Leicester Football Club, an English Premier League team.
At one point in his career, his performance dipped (for two years) and he suddenly became the talk of the day after hugging the headlines previously with some breath taking efforts. Many at the time wrote him off.
Iheanacho quite early supported Nigeria greatly to lift the U-17 World Cup for the fourth time. Thereafter his sojourn for big time football started with Manchester City which signed him off from other competing big teams offering their hands.
Moving to Leicester in 2017 he began a promising career of 25m as he displayed his skills to the admiration of fans and employers.
Comments about his performance from international sports analysts indicate that Iheanacho’s international record is good. He netted eight times in his first 14 international games between 2015 and 2017 (more than a goal every two games), before he went on a slump for 2018 and was left out of the 2019 AFCON. Though he returned in 2020 and scored in a friendly against Tunisia, he has played second fiddle to Victor Osimhen.
In March against Sheffield United which his team mauled with a scandalous 5-0, he pulled a hat-trick (scoring 3 goals) which performance he dedicated to mothers all over the world.
Reacting on his new found form, Kelechi had this to say, “I’ve been working really hard and I’m really grateful to God. I thank my team mates and my manager for helping me grow. I thank everyone in the club for helping me out and I’m happy for this day.’’ It is clear he is a team player.
Last Sunday, in a star performance the Ohaji, Imo State born soccer maestro in a solitary goal pushed his team to the finals of the Football Association (FA) Cup final, first time after 52 years. He is reputed to have scored 15 goals in all competitions this season towering him as the highest goal scorer in the club so far.
News Echo wishes to celebrate with this young Nigeria who never say die at a point his performance plummeted. He is an encouragement to other youths and indeed all Nigeria.
He kept hope alive and never gave up on his dreams as many are bound to do when confronted with little challenge
We celebrate him for being among the few that have continued to bring fame to the country at a point the country is making waves for the wrong reasons. There is no doubt that the country’s national team will find his services extremely useful. Kelechi Iheanacho represents the talents of Nigerian youths. We salute him and wish him well.
