Categories: News

Why I don’t score for Nigeria – Ighalo


Super Eagles striker, Odion Ighalo, has said scoring for his English club Watford is easier than doing so for the national team due to the difference in terrains. Ighalo who scored his ninth goal of the season on Saturday in Watford’s 2-0 win over Norwich struggled to replicate same form when the Super Eagles defeated Swaziland in the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifier last month.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with New Telegraph, the striker said that it was very difficult scoring for the Eagles due to demanding nature of the African game. “We cannot compare so many things in Europe with what we have in Africa,” he said. “If you talk about the pitches in Europe compared to Africa, you will see a huge difference, likewise the weather.

“Another issue is the physicality of the game in Africa, but I am not complaining because as a striker, you have to be ready for any situation.” Ighalo has scored two goals for the Super Eagles since making his debut in a 2-0 win over Chad in AFCON qualifier on June 13 in Kaduna. Meanwhile, Ighalo has praised manager Quique Sanchez Flores’ game plan for the 2-0 victory over Norwich City on Saturday.

With a long trip to Sunderland up next for the club, Ighalo form marked the improvement that Flores has been asking for. “The teamwork has been great, you see the way we have been pushing ourselves and the team really worked hard from the first until the last minute today Saturday.

We can’t single out any player because from Heurelho to the top everybody really worked hard and we deserved the three points,” he told the club’s official website. “We are happy and we just want to forget about today now because it’s gone. We are thinking about the next game because we want to try and win games. We know we’re going to have some difficult times, but if we keep picking up points now we know we are going to be safe at the end of the season.”

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Biyi Akangbe

Biyi is an editor at Soccernet.ng. He has been in the media industry for almost a decade and has worked with top publishers in Nigeria. He loves Sports, Games and Music! biyi@soccernet.com.ng Twitter: @its_biyi

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