Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has blamed his past injury woes on the Super Eagles under Gernot Rohr.
Before his injury, Onazi was a key part of the Super Eagles squad, and even partnered Wilfred Ndidi in the 2018 FIFA World Cup until the Super Eagles were eliminated from the tournament.
Onazi claimed that he suffered an injury while playing for the Super Eagles after the World Cup but former manager Gernot Rohr refused to pay any attention to his claims.
As a result of poor handling, he had to be left out of the Super Eagles team because the injury worsened to the extent that he was out for a whole year.
Onazi speaks on injury experience
In a recent interview with journalist Oma Akatugba, the Al-Adalah of Saudi Arabia midfielder told the whole story of his injury and how he lost his place in the Super Eagles team.
“I just have to give thanks to God because I had a really rough time,” Onazi began. “And if you want to be fair enough we should be able to rub each other’s back – because to be honest, the injury that got me into this mess that I am started from the national team.
“I was trying to tell Gernot Rohr then that I had a pain on my achilles tendon and he was thinking I didn’t want to play a game. This is the problem that got me out of the national team.
“People don’t understand. And so many people were talking on the media, saying ‘why is Onazi refusing to play?’
“So I had to go back to my club. I went there and unfortunately I didn’t pay attention to the treatment and injection that the doctor was giving to me.”
The midfielder also took responsibility for his part in the injury, claiming that he failed to pay attention when he was being treated by his former club Trabzonspor of the Turkish Super Lig.
“He [the Trabzonspor doctor] was giving me painkillers so I would not feel pain, but using it to play, because at that time, Trabzonspor wanted to become champions, so they couldn’t risk me staying out.
“So when I used it to play that was when it completely ruptured because I was forcing it.
“I had three surgeries on the same leg and I was out for a year without playing.”
New defender based in Europe identified for Super Eagles
The Nigerian Football Federation technical team is continually scouting for players to improve the Super Eagles and latest reports claim that a new defender has been identified.
The NFF scouts have identified Jonas David, a 22-year-old central defender playing for Hamburger SV in the German 2.Bundesliga as a potential addition to the squad in the near future.
Jonas David has already played for the German national team in their under-19 and under-20 setups. However, he decided this year to commit his international future to Nigeria which was greatly influenced by the visit of NFF scouts to Hamburger SV to watch the player and interact with him at the club's training grounds.
This article was most recently revised and updated 2 years ago
