31 year old Jonathan Rasheed did his chances of a first time call up to the senior national team of Nigeria a whole lot of good with a string of saves as his team Värnamo ran out 3-1 winners against Kalmar in the Sweden top division, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Balogun stood between Kalmar and a goal but finally conceded in the 70th minute but with his team already 3-0 up. He still pulled another magnificent save towards the end of the game to deny the visitors a second goal, which would have set up a frenetic end to the game.
His performance will no doubt increase the calls for his inclusion in the senior national team of Nigeria with the goalkeepers crisis currently rocking the team. Only Adebayo Adeleye has enjoyed regular run of games among the three senior goalkeepers in the team, but he still doesn’t have the trust of the coach Jose Peseiro.
The duo of Francis Uzoho and Maduka Okoye are yet to play a game this season, and the rustiness is already telling on Uzoho who made two high profile errors in the recent games against Saudi Arabia and Mozambique respectively.
Rasheed who was born in Sweden to Nigerian parents hasn’t hidden his desire to play for the Super Eagles. His name is said to have been passed on to Peseiro for proper scouting and on this strength of yesterday’s game he has done his chances a whole lot of good.
Damian Waziri