Super Eagles striker Odion Ighalo has revealed that he has had two worst moments so far in his international football career.
Ighalo made his international debut in a friendly match between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and Uganda in 2015 which ended in a famous 1-0 defeat to the Super Eagles.
The 33-year-old striker was part of Nigeria’s representatives at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia in which the country had one of the poorest runs in the tournament.
During the tournament, the Super Eagles dashed their hopes of qualifying from the group stage when they lost 2-1 to Argentina. In the game against the Argentine side, Odion Ighalo missed two opportunities which contributed to the defeat.
After the Super Eagles were knocked out of the competition, Ighalo was heavily blamed for the country’s abysmal performance.
After the tournament, he followed the Super Eagles to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and ended up as the tournament’s top scorer even though Nigeria failed to win the title.
Despite a fair outing in the 2019 AFCON, he was still being trolled on Instagram until he had to deactivate the comment section of his page. He also had to retire from the national team days after the AFCON.
Interestingly, the former Watford and Manchester United striker returned to the national team ahead of the last phase of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Unfortunately for him, he could not help the Super Eagles to qualify for the tournament as Ghana drew 1-1 with Nigeria in Abuja and qualified thanks to away goals rule.
In an interview with Elegbete TV, Odion Ighalo confessed that his worst two moments as a Super Eagles player were missing a goalscoring opportunity against Argentina in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and Nigeria failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
“The two worst experiences I had with the Super Eagles was the game against Argentina at the 2018 World Cup when I missed a chance and the whole of Nigeria wanted to bury me alive,” Ighalo said.
“Also the last World Cup which we did not qualify for was another bad time for me. I believe we had the tools and everything in our possession to qualify for that World Cup.
“We were playing at home, which was an advantage. The stadium was crowded that day and that was an advantage for us.
“But due to some circumstances or selfish reasons for some people, we did not get to qualify. However, we have to look forward.”
