Millwall striker Femi Azeez hogged the headlines in Nigeria after his two-goal heroics on his international debut against Zimbabwe on Tuesday, but his overall performance still left coach Eric Chelle underwhelmed.
Azeez, who has 11 goals and 7 assists for Millwall this season, opened the scoring after just five minutes, a left-footed drive from outside the penalty area after a lay-off by captain Terem Moffi.
He made it two in the second half of the Unity Cup fixture, slotting home smartly after Philip Otele found Moffi, who squared for the Millwall man to finish.
"He scored two goals, so congratulations to him," Chelle said after the game. "But technically, he also lost a lot of balls, so I'm not completely happy.
"He won many balls back as well, but sometimes he didn't get the ball back, so I'm not happy with that. But for a first game, we can say congratulations to Azeez."
The performance not only turned the previously unknown Azeez into an overnight sensation in Nigeria, it also helped him write his name into the record books.
According to Sports Village Square, he became the first Nigerian in 55 years to score a brace on his debut for the Super Eagles. The last to do it was Mathias Obianika, who scored twice in Nigeria's 4-0 win over Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso, in November 1971.
Azeez also became the 62nd Nigerian to score on his senior debut, joining a list that includes Finidi George, Julius Aghahowa and Obafemi Martins, and the first to score on debut since Jerome Akor Adams did so against Lesotho in October 2025.
"I didn't know that," Azeez said when told of the record. "It's a good feeling, I guess. It's an honour."
Despite the backhanded compliment from his coach, Azeez credited Chelle's instructions for giving him the freedom to perform: "The manager gave us freedom, especially in the final third, to do what we want and express ourselves. That's why we're here at the end of the day."
On his second goal, he added: "When Moffi passed the ball back to me and I saw that, I was going for it. I didn't even think twice. I just went for it."
Usually, a performance like that should be enough to at least earn him a place in Nigeria's next assignment, the two high profile friendlies against Portugal and Poland which come up in June.
But with Chelle, nothing is uncertain. That squad comes loaded with a forward line of Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Akor Adams, Alex Iwobi, and others.
While Chelle acknowledged the effort and output displayed by the forward, he remained noncommittal: "If I wake up in a good state of mind, and I want him in the team against Portugal and Poland, I will say yes.
"But if I don't want, I will say no."
Azeez was only one of several debutants to impress on Tuesday. Wrexham goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, who switched international allegiance from England after FIFA confirmed his eligibility in April, kept a clean sheet on his first senior appearance.
He had little to do for much of the game but produced a crucial full-stretch save in the 71st minute to deny Zimbabwe when they threatened to pull one back.
Chelle was careful to keep the 2-0 result in context: "The reality is this is only one game. This is a friendly tournament. This is not AFCON qualifying or World Cup qualifying."
Chelle says irrespective of the results, the big picture objective is still a long term refresh of the Super Eagles squad: "The reality is that since I took this job, we were supposed to qualify for the World Cup, and we lost that opportunity.
"We lost in the playoff final because we were tired. And in the AFCON semifinal against Morocco, we lost because we were tired. So I need to bring in some new players to change that situation.
"Also for another AFCON, if we arrive in the semifinals and we were tired I can bring some players who can make a difference.
"After this tournament, we will analyze which players we can bring in our team, if they deserve it. Once again they have a lot of work."
Nigeria will face Jamaica in the Unity Cup final on May 30. The Reggae Boyz beat India 2-0 in the other semifinal Wednesday at The Valley, with Courtney Clarke scoring in the eighth minute and Kaheim Dixon adding a second in the 78th.
