A good World Cup performance can send the scouts circling like vultures, and Ahmed Musa's double in Nigeria's 3-2 loss to Argentina ...
A good World Cup performance can send the scouts circling like vultures, and Ahmed Musa's double in Nigeria's 3-2 loss to Argentina can only do the same.
The CSKA Moscow forward scored Nigeria's fastest-ever goal at a World Cup on four minutes, and became their first player to score twice in one game in the tournament.
Here, Sportsmail takes a closer look at the largely unknown 21-year-old.
What's his history?
Musa remained off the beaten track until Russian Premier League club CSKA Moscow swooped, but the forward put in his time to get there.
An Aminchi Football Academy product, Musa's second professional year on loan at Kano Pillars, scoring 18 goals in 25 games, saw him come to life. In doing so, he set a record in the Nigeria Premier League.
It pricked the ears of Eredivisie outfit VVV-Venlo, who signed Musa in 2010. He waited until he was 18 under FIFA rules, as did VVV, and it paid off.
We could have been introduced to Musa in the 2010 World Cup, after Lars Lagerback called him up to the 30-man squad for South Africa, but an unfortunate ankle injury prevailed.
An unnamed Bundesliga team bid £8million in 2011, which was turned down, before Moscow got their man for an undisclosed fee in 2012.
What's his goalscoring record like?
Statistics don't lie, and neither do Musa's. Since moving to Moscow, the forward has performed admirably on the wing, scoring 19 in 65 in the Russian Premier League.
He has bags of potential, particularly at such a young age, and showed he can bring that to the world stage against Argentina.
His brace in the Group F finale brought his total for Nigeria to six in 37 games, and Musa could have had his hat-trick had it not been for heroic defending from Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta, who was given a run for his money by his pacey counterpart.
AHMED MUSA FACT FILE
2008-2010: Aminchi FA (0 apps, 0 gls)
2008-2009: JUTH (loan) (18, 4)
2009-2010: Kano Pillars (loan) (25, 18)
2010-2012: VVV-Venlo (37, 8)
2012-NOW: CSKA Moscow (65, 19)
2010-NOW: Nigeria (37, 6)
