Nigeria Content Online

What has changed
for Nedum Onuoha the Manchester City defender between November 2009 and
today? Nothing expect that reality has dawn on him that his dream of
playing for England, the country he played at the junior level, will
never be a reality at the senior level.

With doors shut by England coach Fabio Capello, Onuoha who told the world in November that,

“I would love to
play for England. But I also get a certain feeling when I see Nigeria
play. If you play for England that is fine. However, if I choose to
play for Nigeria there would be a lot of politics involved and a lot of
administrative issues.” Now that he has been rejected by England,
Onuoha remember his plan B, to return and play for the country of his
birth, where he spent the first seven years of his life.

Suddenly, all the
administrative and politics that are killing the game in Nigeria are
gone. Onuoha now wants to play for his fatherland after England has
shut the door, it was even reported that he is desperate to play for
Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. “I’d like to play in the
remaining six games for City. If I did that, maybe the chance would be
there to play for Nigeria. But if I am not playing week in, week out, I
wouldn’t expect to receive a call from anyone, because it wouldn’t be
right. Everyone wants to play in the World Cup, but things have to be
right and you have to be selected. A lot of people are talking about it
as though it is an option, but I have never been called up, so it’s not
something I can really talk about,” Onuoha told Manchester Evening
News.”

Onuoha lied

In his desperation
to play at the World Cup, Onuoha lied that he has never been invited
before. But he was not only invited by Berti Vogts in 2007 for a match
against Uganda, he also acknowledged the invitation. “No one has spoken
to me since the former manager Berti Vogts made an informal approach a
couple of years ago,” Onuoha told an English newspaper.

So if Onuoha
shunned Nigeria when he was invited to be part of qualifier for the
Nations Cup by Vogts, and he did not deem it fit to play for Nigeria
during the qualification for South Africa 2010 World Cup, it is only
when Nigeria has qualified that he remembered that he is a Nigerian.
Has he shared a thought for the players that played the qualifier? How
would he feel if he had played the qualification for England and
Capello dropped him on the eve of the World Cup for a British player
born and bred in Nigeria but who chose to play for England after he has
been rejected by Nigeria.

A lot has been said
about Onuoha and the quality he possesses, but this guy is not
exceptional, he is just an average player like other defenders in the
Eagles like Taiye Taiwo, Adebayo Olufemi, Elderson Echijille and others.

Any keen fan of the
English Premier League will notice that Onuoha is not sharp, slow to
response, cannot dribble, his anticipation is bad and a poor marker.
This probably accounts for the reason Man City coach, Roberto Mancini
is shopping for wing back and why Capello did not deem him fit for the
England team and why does he need the lobbying of Orji Uzor Kalu,
former governor of Abia State, for his inclusion in the World Cup team
as it is being insinuated.

Anichebe example

Onuoha ought to
have emulated Victor Anichebe, the Everton striker who was invited by
Vogts alongside Onuoha in March 2007. Anichebe, unlike Onuoha, turned
his back on England and told the world he will play for Nigeria. “I got
called up by England but I don’t really want to play for them, I want
to play for Nigeria. Stuart Pearce had a chat with me and gave me his
opinion. I took it on board but I feel Nigeria is better for me. I
would want to represent Nigeria because that is where I’m from. I go
back every year for Christmas and have a lot of family there. We moved
to England when I was just one year old, but I still feel Nigerian,”
Anichebe told the media then.

It is not too late for Onuoha, he can be part our team for the 2014
World Cup in Brazil, starting with the qualifiers. To call up Onuoha
now is setting a bad precedent, it might disturb the team spirit in
camp and derail our World Cup plan.