Calvin Bassey: Looking to Make AFCON Cut

Since his first call-up for the Super Eagles 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Central African Republic by erstwhile national team Manager Gernot Rohr, Glasgow Rangers defender Calvin Ughelumba Bassey, has been dreaming to be part of the Nigeria’s party to the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon. With the sacking of the Franco-German, the Italian-born player will be hoping to make cut with the new ‘Sherriff’ – Augustine Eguavoen, at the helms of the national team

With Augustine Eguavoen having stated that his players’ selection for the Africa Cup of Nations will be based on the preliminary 40-man list submitted by his predecessor, Gernot Rohr, Rangers defender, Calvin Bassey would be hoping to make the cut.
Eguavoen who will be leading the Super Eagles at the 2021 AFCON in Cameroon in January and February, has admitted that he will not be straying too far from Rohr’s plans.

The German tactician submitted a preliminary 40-man squad list for the tournament to the Confederation of African Football last month.
“The list goes to CAF, so it is from there we are going to see how we get the details back home.

“So, it is from that we are going to pick the players, the list Gernot Rohr submitted.”
One player who will be hoping to make Eguavoen’s cut is Calvin Bassey, a former Leicester City starlet, who also qualifies to represent Italy the country of his birth and England where he grew up, has seemingly pledged his international future to Nigeria having accepted an invitation for the World Cup qualifying fixtures against Central African Republic in October.

Bassey was handed a maiden call-up because Porto fullback Zaidu Sanusi found playing opportunities few and far between when the season started, but he is now back in favour at the Portuguese giants, which contributed to manager Gernot Rohr’s decision to omit the Rangers youngster from his squad for last month’s games.

With the Confederation of African Football permitting countries to name five extra players on their rosters for AFCON 2021, Bassey will fancy his chances of gatecrashing Nigeria’s squad due to his ability to play as a fullback and left-sided central defender.
Prior to handing Bassey a first senior call-up, Rohr had been scouring Europe for a left-footed central defender with Jordan Torunarigha of Hertha Berlin and Felix Uduokhai of Augsburg his top two candidates for the position.

At a pre-match press conference before the visit of Dundee to Ibrox, Bassey was asked if he wants to be part of the Africa Cup of Nations going forward.

The Rangers number 3 responded: “Yes of course. Obviously, it’s always an honour to represent your country. Obviously, the timing is a bit hard because we’ve got games.
“Right now I’m just fully focused at the club, at the end of the day if I do well here that’s what helps me get called up for Nigeria and so on, so I’m just focused on the club and just giving my best performance, taking each game as it comes.
“Whatever happens when we get to that stage we’ll look at it and see what’s best for me and take it from there.”

With the sacking of Rohr his dream of playing for Nigeria at next month’s Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon now hangs in the balance.
The 21-year-old Italy-born joined Premier League club Leicester City at the age of 15 after a successful trial and progressed through the club’s youth ranks, with regular appearances for the clubs’ U-18 and U-23 sides.

The defender linked up with Rangers from Premier League club Leicester City last summer and made his professional debut for Rangers in a Scottish Premiership match against St. Mirren on August 9, 2020 as a substitute in a 3–0 win.

Premiership club Rangers sprung a surprise on everyone as they announced that they had secured a pre-contract agreement with Leicester City full-back Bassey last year.
The Italian-born defender has been a member of the Midlands club’s academy for quite a while now, and at 21, has the perfect mix of ability and potential to make an impact at the Ibrox Stadium.

Rangers former manager Steven Gerrard had a lot of nice things to say about him.
He said on the club website, “There was a lot of clubs interested in Calvin and for us it’s pleasing to secure the services of another young talent. He’s a strong and dynamic athlete who is very much the modern-day full-back. He will develop further and we are excited to have made another strong addition to our group. We continue to look ahead to next season and Calvin is another positive addition as we continue to build the strength and depth of our squad.”

The 21-year-old left-back was promoted to the Foxes’ Premier League 2 side back in the summer of 2018, after which he’s become a regular in their academy team. Although he did miss the odd game along the way, the talent that Bassey possessed was apparent to see from day one. The defender had a fairly important part to play in the team this season as well, as the Foxes find themselves in 2nd place on the PL2 table, just three points off an unbeaten Chelsea side at the summit.
Altogether, the youngster played in a little under 100 fixtures for the Foxes youth teams across various levels, which included four outings in the UEFA Youth League back in the 16/17 campaign, he was never in much limelight for some reason.

Since the 16/17 campaign, the defender’s stock has consistently been on the rise, and he’s deservedly received a proportionate increase in his playing time as well. Two seasons with the U-18 side were enough for Steve Beaglehole to call the speedster up to the U-23 setup, after which he’s gone on to respectively play 13 and 16 fixtures in PL2 over the last two seasons.

The wing-back’s ability to perfectly balance defending and attacking is arguably what has tempted the Gers to make a move for him this summer. Although former manager, Gerrard has described him as a proper modern-day full-back, it’s worth considering that Bassey doesn’t bombard forward at every possible instance. The youngster seems to have a strong understanding of what’s required in each varying situation, and this defensive awareness is a real asset to have in football these days.

The Ibrox acquisition is a physically strong player who isn’t afraid to use brute force to win the ball back when solid positioning and general observation just won’t do. Physically strong and well-aware of his skill-set, Bassey is among a rare breed of defenders who isn’t desperate to win the ball back and is comfortable just ensuring that any avenues into the box are well covered. The 21-year-old’s height and stature make him a strong presence in the box while defending against set-piece situations as well.

Although the youngster doesn’t necessarily overlap on every opportunity he gets, when he does go forward, the Leicester man usually ensures that he provides the desired effect. A good crosser from wide, Bassey is sure to provide good cover in a position that been a concern for the Rangers over the last couple of seasons. Another critical aspect of his game is aggression, and while the speedster did pick up two straight red cards during the 18/19 campaign, it’s evidently something that he’s been working very hard on since that point.

The Gers have what is undoubtedly among the strongest squads in the entire Premiership, but one of their main problem areas over the last two campaigns has been at left-back. Borna Barisic has been Bronckhorst’s only natural option in the left-back role for a while now, and midfielder Andy Halliday and right-back Jon Flanagan were being utilised as cover to the Croatian. With Halliday and Flanagan now set to depart, the addition of a young left-back makes complete sense for the Ibrox side.

At 21-years-old, the Leicester City man offers Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side massive scope for development. At the same time, he also possesses the quality required to make a name for himself in the first-team picture immediately. eating out Borna Barisic to the first-choice role might not be the most straightforward task for a player who’s never appeared in a top-flight game before, but he’s sure to give the Croatian a run for his money throughout the campaign. All things considered, this must be classed as an impressive coup by Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side, in a position that really needed to be addressed as well. All in all, for a development fee only, this is some coup for Rangers.