Former Super Eagles’ striker, Brown Aide Ideye says he is eager to win this year’s CAF Confederation Cup title with Enyimba FC of Aba as his last laurel before hanging his boots.
Sports247.ng reports that Ideye, who has previously played in France, England, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, netted his first goal for Enyimba six minutes after entering last weekend’s match against Black Bulls of Mozambique.
Read Also: Zaidu Sanusi Makes Comeback for FC Porto After Year-Long ACL Injury Recovery
Ideye’s 67th minute goal helped The People’s Elephant eke out a 4-1 win at Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State and thus recorded their first haul of points in the group stage of this year’s second-tier continental competition.
Incidentally, Ideye’s goal also set tongues wagging that the Canada 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup revelation would be invited to the home-based Eagles for the upcoming Championship of African Nations (CHAN), but he quickly denied holding such aspirations.
Ideye recalled how critics recently wrote him off as a player who has gone beyond his prime, but retorted that his love for the round leather game keeps him going strong.
Ideye pointed out, “The thing with Nigeria is that, as soon as you turn 30, they see you as old. In fact, as soon as you turn 30 in Africa, they feel you should have retired.
“They don’t realise that, at 30, that’s your peak. I love football so much that, at this age, I should be chilling somewhere with my family drinking cocktails.
“I could have been at the beach with my family but, because of the love I have for the game, I decided to celebrate New Year away from my family.
“I had to be on the phone to say Happy New Year and all that. Thank God that they understand and they see that it’s my job. This is what I do. But it’s not everybody who will understand that.”
He concluded with an affirmation of his love for Enyimba and stressed that he is not thinking of featuring for the Eagles’ B-squad at CHAN 2025 later this month in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia.
“At this moment, I am not even thinking of accepting any invitation for CHAN of whatever they call it. Right now, my only focus is on Enyimba. If any other thing comes up after that, we can look at it.
“For now, it’s just Enyimba. If I can retire after winning the league with Enyimba, that would be one great achievement for me. As a football player, you want to win trophies, so you will have good memories when you retire. So, if I can do that, if we collectively as a team win the cup, that would be my send-off party.
“To have the trophy, it would be amazing,” concluded the lanky attacker, who grew up in Ajegunle area of Lagos and played for West Bromwich Albion of England as well as Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine at the height of his career.
