RKC Genk of Belgium’s current top scorer, Toluwalase Emmanuel Arokodare has revealed that he has held a strong ambition to wear the Super Eagles’ jersey since he was a kid and he is happy that his dream is about to come true.
Sports247 reports that the 24-year-old Tolu Arokodare, who was born on FESTAC Town, Lagos, and never played for any league club in Nigeria before travelling abroad, is not only glad to be in the Eagles’ camp ahead of Friday’s World Cup qualifier versus Rwanda, he is also eager to get his debut against The Amavubi.
His invitation comes on the heels of stunning form that has seen him net 19 goals in all competitions for his Jupiler League side, thereby making him Nigeria’s current third highest scorer in Europe – behind Galatasaray of Turkey’s Victor Osimhen (26) and Cyriel Dessers at Glasgow Rangers of Scotland (21).
However, despite his scintillating form, the former Valmiera of Latvia, FC Cologne of Germany and Amiens of France on-loan hitman, who starred for Flying Sports Academy of FESTAC Town and Box2Box FC of Surulere before travelling abroad in 2019, said he was surprised with his national team invitation.
Arokodare confessed, “At first, I was surprised. I was also excited, and I felt honoured to be mentioned amongst the initial 39 invited players. It was quite surprising to me. Although I knew it was coming, since I’m doing pretty well with my club, I didn’t know it would come this early.
“I knew it would come, and I’m happy it did come. I felt like a winner already, and I had it at the back of my mind that, even if I didn’t make the final squad of 23, at least I had done something and I’ve achieved something.”
The in-form striker, who started out as a youngster at Kash FC of FESTAC Town and had a short stay with Nigerian legend, Segun Odegbami’s International Sports Academy in Ogun State, went on to declare that he feels on top of the world, being among the glitterati of Nigeria’s current generation of senior national team players, and he wants to make the best of it.
“Being in the final 23 now makes me feel very blessed, and I’m very grateful. It means a lot to me. It means a lot to me, and I’m very grateful to start this way. Getting the opportunity to play for your country is one of the best things that can happen to a footballer.
“It’s great to gain the opportunity to represent your country and to play. As a kid, you always watched the national legends play, and you always wanted to play for your national team. So, to finally be in that position, with an opportunity to play for my country, means a lot to me,” Arokodare exuded with glee.
He will now hope to get off the bench at some point during Friday’s cracker in Kigali, and probably get a crucial goal to his name; which would automatically shoot him ahead of Real Sapphire FC of Lagos product, Victor Boniface, who is always on fire at Bayer Leverkusen of Germany but has failed to score or even show any spark in 11 appearances for Nigeria.
