Slavia Prague of Czech Republic centre back, Igoh Ogbu has disclosed that he is banking on the experience he gained while playing for Nigeria at the FIFA U20 World Cup to boost his chances of excelling with the Super Eagles.
While further pointing out that the progress he has made in his career since moving to Slavia Prague will also come in handy, Ogbu believes he will be a success in Nigeria’s senior national team, Sports247 reports.
Ogbu, who was born in Jos and will clock 25 years old on February 8th, also has previous stints with four different clubs in Norway at the start of his career to buttress his national team credentials.
The tall defender, who was groomed in the youth squad of Gombe United FC, disclosed that he idolised Spanish stopper, Charles Puyol and England legend, John Terry while growing up, but now believes he can outshine their feats once he starts playing for the Super Eagles.
Ogbu, who recalled that he had many exciting days while playing in Norway with Rosenborg, Levanger, Sogndal and Lillestrom, stated, “The Super Eagles is a team that every Nigerian kid dreams of.
“Every footballer wants to play for his country, to wear the jersey and be proud of it. (Towards achieving this ambition) I had contacts with the NFF. The last time I had contact with them, my dad had just passed away.”
Ogbu, who is now in his second season with Slavia Prague and played a key role in helping them stay top of the Czech Republic First League’s table at the end of 2024, conceded that he has to be patient and keep on working harder in order to get into the Super Eagles.
He added, “For me, I just wait for the right time. When the right time is due, I know for sure that I will be in the team. So, I’m not in a haste. I just believe in what I can do, and I just have to wait.
“Other Nigerians are playing, and other players are there as well. It will always come to be your time if you keep working hard and improve your game. It will come to be your time and, definitely, it will happen (for me as well) in God’s timing.”
Ogbu then turned his attention on memories of his days with Nigeria’s junior national team, Flying Eagles, for which he featured in a total of seven matches across the African Youth Championship (AYC) and FIFA U20 World Cup both in 2019.
His efforts helped the Nigerian squad handled by Paul Aigbogun reach the quarter-finals of Poland 2019, after finishing third in Group D behind Ukraine and USA, but ahead of Qatar, who they defeated 4-0 in their first match.
That was followed by a 2-0 loss to USA and 1-1 draw with eventual champions Ukraine, before a shock 2-1 defeat by Senegal sent Aigbogun’s squad back home early, but Ogbu says the experience was very useful for his career.
“Playing for Nigeria at the FIFA U20 World Cup was good; but one thing for sure is that it was a youth football tournament, and I was already playing abroad (at that time).
I was happy to be there, and it helped me, because it exposed me to understand more about football … to understand more of what I needed to work on as a player. It helped my career in a certain way,” stressed Ogbu.
The vastly improved central defender further affirmed that he is now looking forward to enacting more heroics with Slavia Prague in order to attract interest from Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and gain an invitation from the Super Eagles’ next coach
