My Dad Did Not Want Me To Play football – Ndidi

Super Eagles sensational midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi has revealed how he turned against his father’s wish, skipped schooling to pursue a career in football.

The Leicester City star in an exclusive interview with Leicester Mercury, said he disobeyed his father, a soldier, who wanted him to put his education before football.

“My dad watched it on the television but he didn’t want me to play football. He is a soldier, but he didn’t want me to follow in his footsteps, he just wanted me to go to school.

“I did miss out on some school because of football. When I moved to Nath Boys academy then I started to miss out on some of my schooling,” the 20 year old lad said.

Ndidi impressed during a tournament in Lagos, which was attended by European scouts, but it was Genk who made the first move, inviting him to Belgium for a trial.

“I remember kicking a ball around as a child but I was not in any training or anything,” he said.

“I just had a very small ball and I just kicked it around by my home.

“I was 14 when I joined Nath Boys Academy. We played in a competition and a scout from Genk was there. I was 16 or 17 when they came in for me.

“I was offered a trial at Genk and the president of Nath Boys came with me to Belgium for the trials.

“It was very different to what I was used to but before that I had been travelling with Nath Boys and we played in a tournament in Portugal. We had played against Hull City and Celtic, so it wasn’t completely new,” he added.

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