One of the first games Ahmed Musa played for the senior Nigeria team was an African Nations' Cup qualifier in October 2010 against Guinea in Conakry.
With Nigeria trailing 1-0, stand-in coach Augustine Eguavoen threw on the youngster late in the second half. Within minutes, his pace was burning the lungs out of the Guinea defenders. Even Eguavoen himself looked exhausted just watching Musa fly.
That pace almost earned Nigeria a point. One typical run saw Musa get in behind the Guinea defence where he was then clipped in full flight, but Musa was up again so quickly that the referee did not even award the penalty.
Since those early days, Musa has gone on to become a mainstay of the Nigeria national team, at one point, turning out for both the under 20s and the senior team at the same time.
There are few better players to have on transitions, although Musa is so quick that he has been known to leave the ball behind on occasion. However, when he does keep the ball, his close control and technique are a constant source of headaches for opposing fullbacks.
Usually deployed as a winger for Nigeria, his crossing has left many a Super Eagles fan in hair-tearing frustration, but he makes up for that shortcoming with some unbelievably spectacular finishes, like his two strikes against Argentina at the 2014 World Cup.
Those are characteristics that will help the modest Musa not only to fit right into Claudio Ranieri's game plan at Leicester City, but to succeed in England.
"It is a very hard league but I will do my best," Musa said to ESPNFC. "I've played against English clubs before and I watch the league on television, so the sky will be my limit."
Watching the Premier League on television is what young men across the African continent do, and Musa is no exception. However, he is quick to address what has grown to become an urban myth, his supposed support of Arsenal.
"That is not true. Somebody wrote that and everybody started spreading it. But it's not true at all," said Musa.
What is true though, is that Musa is a serial title winner. He claimed three Russian Premier League titles with CSKA and says his ambition is to do the same with Leicester.
"A lot of people look at Leicester and think they can't do it again. But I'm looking forward to winning the title here with this club. I've only trained one day with some of the boys but I can see all the hard work that goes into training," said Musa.
That hard work will come in handy as make their first foray into the Champions League, a competition that Musa in which he has had plenty of experience while at CSKA.
"It's a special competition, but there's no big deal really. Many people don't expect much from the team because it's the first time. But any new team that comes into the Champions League wants to surprise others. We just have to play our game, and win the matches we need to win. And I have no doubt we will do better than people expect," said Musa.
It's a typically positive attitude from the one of the most likeable players in the game. After goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama retired from the international football, Musa was named Nigeria captain. Two matches and a new coach later, he was replaced by Chelsea's John Mikel Obi. He took it in stride.
"It's the right thing to do," Musa said at the news conference announcing the change, with a jovial smile that left little doubt that the emotions were genuine. Leicester can expect no disruption to their dressing room spirit anytime soon.
What they can expect though, is Jamie Vardy on afterburners.
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