Former Super Eagles skipper, Joseph Yobo has revealed that he had to play with injuries to feature for Nigeria at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Yobo, who is Nigeria most capped player said because he wanted to be in Super Eagles squad to the 2014 World Cup, he left Turkish giant, Fenerbahçe to team up with less fancy side, Norwich City to revive his participation hopes which was gradually fading into thin air due to injury.
“I was becoming injury prone, I missed out for almost a year and the World Cup was coming. I was playing in the Champions League and Europa Cup for Fenerbahce, but I know what I was going through to play those games. I wasn’t 100% fit.
“So, in order for me to make the World Cup team – obviously, I was getting to my peak and younger players were coming on.
“The Turkish league is very good but Nigerians don’t watch it, so I had to make a statement by returning to the Premier League where people can see me play,” he said.
Speaking further, Everton defender who announced his retirement after Nigeria’s 2014 World Cup loss against France at the round of 16, said his move back to the English Premier League guarantee his place in the Super Eagles World Cup squad.
“I think my first game was against Manchester City and I wondered how I was going to defend against Dzeko and other players. Overall, it was a good move for me and in that game, I was named Man of the Match.
“People saw that even with my injury, I can still play, so that meant there was a spot for me to go to the World Cup. I played eight games consecutively before my injury and that happened because I took a risk to play for my manager.
“Norwich were not as big as Everton but I love the structure and the staff were very good to me. They treated me while understanding the problem that I had and what I wanted to achieve. Everyone was great to me and it was a fantastic experience.”
Yobo was included in Stephen Keshi’s squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and was in the starting line-up for both the second and third group matches, helping the Super Eagles to clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Packaged by Lanre Olabisi
