February 17, (THEWILL) – Odion Ighalo, the Super Eagles striker recalled from retirement by former coach Gernot Rohr, has stated that he left his old Saudi Arabian team Al-Shabab for League rivals Al Hilal when the former refused to let him play at the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
THEWILL recalls that Ighalo accepted the invitation to come out of retirement, which decision he made following the 2019 AFCON, and joined fellow teammates to represent the senior men’s national football team last year.
With Napoli’s Victor Osimhen and Watford’s Emmanuel Dennis absent, the 32-year-old was projected to be one of Nigeria’s main target men at the AFCON in Cameroon. Caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen has retained him in the list of invited players and sent him an invite.
Ighalo’s skill was never in question, as he was in sensational form for Al Shabab, scoring 13 goals in 19 games.
However, he was unable to bring his outstanding form to bear for the Super Eagles at AFCON where clinical finishing was sorely needed, as Eguavoen himself admitted and as THEWILL reported, due to Al Shabab’s refusal to allow him to travel to Cameroon.
It was the main reason for his January switch to Al-Hilal, according to the former Watford player, because he and Al Shabab were at odds after they opted to hold him back. He made this revelation himself when he said:
“I was not happy with them(Al Shabab), and we decided to part ways because the Nations Cup that I didn’t go to caused a lot of bad blood.
“Four hours until my flight [to Cameroon], they had not sent me the exit visa. I called the team manager, and he told me they did not get an invitation. But I had a copy of the invitation that was sent because they copied me in the email.
“We had all this back and forth going on, I changed the ticket to the next day, and then the third day, and they still did not send me the visa. At that point, I knew they did not want me to go.
“My anger was that they should have told me straight up, not smiling in my face one day and then acting a different way. That is why I decided to leave,” Ighalo admitted.
Ighalo’s transfer to Al Hilal paid off when he helped his team reach the Club World Cup semifinals, although they lost bitterly to Egyptian club giants Al Ahly, as THEWILL reported.
When the Super Eagles face Ghana in a crucial World Cup playoffs double-header next month, he will be hoping to get back into the group and assist in taking Nigeria to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
