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Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha has revealed the circumstances that led him to turn down the chance to play for Nigeria’s senior team, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Onuoha represented England at various youth levels, most notably under-21, but was eligible to play for Nigeria through his parents, who were immigrants from the West African country.
However, in 2010, when the then coach of the Nigerian national team approached him to be part of the AFCON and, later, World Cup team, he rejected the offer.
Speaking on an AllOutFootball podcast on YouTube, the 39-year-old who is now retired and works mainly as a television commentator, explained the reason for his decision back then, which he said gave him reason to regret at the end of his career, but which felt good at the time.
Below are excerpts from the interview.
Throughout my career there are many things that I remember. And I wish you had done something different, although at the time it made a lot of sense to me.
Coming through the Man City Academy and being a City fan, nothing was more important to me than playing for City. Yeah, and this is the moment where I think Mancini had just come in and played the last game under Mark Hughes, the previous coach. I was a very important part of his process and, often, Mancini came in.
Then Dedryck Boyata was in the reserve, and suddenly Dedryck was in the first team, playing in front of me and it’s strange. I found it very, very strange, because we are in the middle of the season, and at that time there was going to be an AFCON and the Nigerian coach was contacting me, and he was telling me that he wanted me to come for it and, personally, I see myself as two different people because I am a Macunian and I will say that, but very Nigerian.
Nigeria is home for me. If I’m in a room full of Nigerian people, I feel like, I know, every single one of them.
“That’s how it is. For me, something about the culture is, like, that’s my family. That’s my lineage. That’s what it is. Yeah, but from a football point of view, I remember thinking, right? I’m not currently playing for City here, and I’m going away for six weeks in January. I’m coming back. I’m not going to have anything. I can’t. I don’t think I can do that. People say, oh, you do. You put yourself in a showcase./, but I said I need to focus on the things to stay in the city.
He stayed at City and didn’t play anyway, but what made matters worse was that he is now a family friend relatively speaking. Yes, but someone like JJ Okocha with the influence he has and to be fair, John Obi Mikel also said a bit. I was put in this group of people who would rather beg to play for England than choose to play for their homeland, Nigeria, and once they have done that, they will paint with that brush. You’re done.
And when I retired, I regret not having played international football, and if I had the opportunity to do it for Nigeria, I know how much you would have meant to people like me, yes. But, you know, the decision was made at that time.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
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