TheCable

Nigeria’s two-goal hero against Argentina, Ahmed Musa, won’t be affected by Ramadan fast, which begins on Saturday/Sunday in Monday’s game with France, according to former Super Eagles midfielder, Mutiu Adepoju.

The Muslim world will be observing the holy month of Ramadan, as the World Cup knockout stages start.

Ramadan occurs during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is a period of self-control and discipline, where all Muslims fast between the hours of sunlight and it is a period in which abstinence from food and liquids during daylight hours is mandatory.

But speaking with TheCable, Adepoju said there’s no reason to expect an underwhelming performance from Musa against France.

“Musa is a thorough professional, so he should be able to take care of himself during the fasting period,” Adepoju said.

“The match against France is an important one, and I believe Musa will be ready to face them. His performance won’t drop because of the Ramadan. He knows the routine to observe that will not affect him on Monday.”

It will be recalled that Ramadan was mooted as the reason Nigeria lost to the same France during Colombia 2011 FIFA World Youth Championship (WYC).

The Flying Eagles lost 3-2 to France at the quarter final and it subsequently emerged that the refusal of Flying Eagles’ Muslim players to skip fasting resulted in the team’s ouster from the tournament.

Report from Colombia ahead of the game had disclosed that the players, comprising skipper Ramon Azeez, Ganiu Ogungbe, Abduljaleel Ajagun and Ahmed Musa had agreed to ‘buy out’ the fasting on match days.

However, in a chat with the media after the competition, Musa dismissed the report, describing it as coming from the pit of hell.

The former Kano Pillars’ player insisted that contrary to the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) claim that they were paid to skip their Ramadan fasting exercise, the players fasted throughout the tournament.

Musa also said that the players involved decided to disagree with the federation on buying the fasting because the Glass House circulated the information on the Internet even when they had not concluded the agreement to skip the fasting.

He added that the barrage of abusive telephone calls they received from home further compelled them to fall out with the NFF officials in Colombia and continue with the fasting. He stressed that it did not, however, affect their performance in the match against France.

Now, Adepoju agrees with him.

“Ramadam doesn’t affect a player performance,” he said.

“But it depends on the individual because during my playing days, there were things I did, which I won’t disclose to you, that helped me during matches. I am sure Musa knows what I mean.”

The Super Eagles meet France on Monday in Brasilia.