Akpan: The Great Hope of Nigeria's Midfield One of Stephen Keshi's last acts as Super Eagles boss was to give the Reading man his debut; just how important can the midfielder be for the national side?

Stephen Keshimay be long gone but he will go down in history as the man who gave Reading midfielder Hope Akpan his international debut. And perhaps it could turn out to be the most precious parting gift to solve Nigeria’s midfield problem he painstakingly tried to fix following the withering away of Sunday Mba.
Since the Africa Cup of Nations triumph last year in South Africa, until his last game in charge against Sudan in Abuja, it had been a long, tiring and quite futile exercise to find the midfield ‘third man’.
The likes of Ramon Azeez, Joel Obi, Reuben Gabriel, and even Nosa Igiebor, at different periods were brought in to complement the double pivot of John Obi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi but it didn’t quite work out.
However, the 52-year-old perhaps struck gold with his surprisingly radical approach in his final game as Nigeria head coach. Indeed, the desperate move was employed in order to fix a desperate situation, and it worked.
To the relief of many, the former Mali handler rang changes to the team that succumbed 1-0 to the Falcons of Jediane in Khartoum, both considering personnel and tactics. Off went the predictable Efe Ambrose from the right-back position (where he is, of course, not a natural) and in his stead came a more bewildering option, Onazi.
That singular move proved two things: a) Keshi knew he had options all along but refused (or was afraid) to try new things. b) Certain players have become too comfortable as regular starters and therefore may have become complacent.
Axing Ambrose from the side was one of the four changes to personnel made by Keshi. Juwon Oshaniwa came in for Elderson Echiejile at left-back, Raheem Lawal for Nosa Igiebor in midfield and Aaron Samuel for Gbolahan Salami on the flanks.
Onazi’s reassignment to full-back position created a vacancy at the base of the midfield but Super Eagles’ fans didn’t seem to miss the hustle and bustle of the Lazio man in the middle of the park, thanks to the impressive performance of his replacement: Hope Akpan.
Can the Reading man retain his spot in Nigeria's midfield?
The 23-year-old stands at 6’0’’ (1.83m) and weighs 179Ibs (81kg). To put it in layman’s term: physically, he can provide some muscle for ground battles as well as towering height for aerial duels, which offers firm protection for the back-four.

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