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With those words, Emmanuel Adebayor summed up his season and gave his reasons for retiring from playing for his national team. Essentially, the now former captain of the Togo national team is saying he was so traumatised by the unfortunate gun attack on the Togo team bus that preceded this year’s African Cup of Nations, that he has come to the ‘very difficult decision’ to quit international football.

Adebayor’s track record

Permit my cynicism but he has had a fairly chequered history with his national side: tangles with coaches, being dropped and then re-selected, and joining the team for a narrowly-avoided boycott at the 2006 World Cup over unpaid bonuses. Now let’s talk about the distress caused by the gun attack in Angola. No doubt it was a terrible experience. His employers at Manchester City clearly recognised this and gave him compassionate leave. He has since returned again to fine form for his club and one wonders at his decision to leave the international stage.

Again, the cynicism: He is twenty-six years (or football years) old. Unless the Court of Arbitration for Sports overturns the CAF ruling that suspends Togo from next two editions of the competition, that would make him a football veteran of thirty-two at the 2016 Nations Cup, and most probably not the first choice striker for the national team. As for the World Cup, Togo is not famous for outstanding performances and continuing qualification.

They are a relatively small nation, working hard to make a mark in world football. Therefore, World Cup 2014 is most certainly not assured. Another point is that African men just don’t ‘do’ trauma.’ (I’d like to extend my sincere apologies to our men for the sweeping generalisation.) Adebayor is also an ex African footballer of the Year, so there really isn’t that much more for him to achieve with the national team.

What could have been?

Here’s what an honest press release might have sounded like: “Having given my very best to the national team over the years, playing at our first World Cup and captaining the team, I feel it’s now time to concentrate on my club career. After all, you will agree with me that footballers have a short shelf life; at this point, I would like to restate that I am truly the age that I declare and while I am at the peak of my career, I would like to earn and save as much as possible to cushion the return to my beloved homeland after the end of my club career. Things are looking very good right now, I’m scoring goals and we should be in the Champions League next season. On the other hand, Togo might not get any international football for a decade despite all my best efforts. It’s a good time to leave.”

Did anyone tune in to watch El Clasico at Real Madrid’s home ground?

Anticipation, fuelled by media hype, had reached fever pitch in many homes including mine.

Moneybags Madrid with Cristiano Ronaldo locking horns with Barcelona’s ‘Atomic Flea’ Lionel Messi. With the two teams separated on the league table by goal difference and Barcelona’s attacking football, one expected ninety minutes of soccer dreamland. It turned out to be a disappointment with the kind of stop-start football that makes one want to jump into the television screen and give the players a good shake.

Unsurprisingly, Barcelona broke the deadlock in the first half with their leonine, Messi. A second half goal effectively put an end to the contest, giving the Spanish Champions a three-point lead. We’re not sure if this will put paid to the debate about who the better player is between Ronaldo and Messi but sincerely hope the next El Clasico lives up to the hype.