Could This Be The Crime That Kicked Out Sunday Oliseh From The Super Eagles In 2002? Duke Udi Reveal

ELEGBETE TV SPORTS
ELEGBETE TV SPORTS
23.9 هزار بار بازدید - 5 ماه پیش - Join this channel to get
Join this channel to get access to perks:
@elegbetetv

Foreign clubs respect European coaches––Oliseh
Former Super Eagles captain Sunday Owlish reflects on his football career, determined to correct all the wrong impressions” about his personality. He spoke to Mumini Alao in Aachem, Germany…

I don’t speak German but I was listening to your conversation with the waitress. You sounded very fluent and I know your English and French are also impeccable. Apart from football, you do have a talent for picking up languages, don’t you?

I will say I’m fortunate but I also make great effort to learn. This is my 14th year in Europe but I discovered very early that the fastest way to integrate is to speak the local language. When you can communicate with the people, you stand a greater chance of making friends. Mind you, I also speak Italian, so we are talking about four European languages plus my local Nigerian dialects!

What does your son, Denzel, speak?

Well, Denzel is now seven years old and he prefers to speak French. But he can also speak English. Personally, I speak English with him. Right now you are in Germany. Does he speak German, too. No, and I hope he wouldn’t do that

Why?

Three languages will be too much for a boy his age. He might just get confused. Besides, German is not all that easy.

You have been in Europe for 14 years, playing in Belgium, Italy, Holland and now Germany. Where have you met your greatest challenge?

With Juventus in Italy, of course. At Standard Liege (Belgium), I was a young player just starting a career so the pressure was not much. After four years, I moved to Reggiana in Italy and later FC Koln in Germany. Always one step higher at a time. From Koln, I got offers from AC Milan and Ajax Amsterdam. I chose Ajax to have a taste of Dutch football as well and there I won my first club trophy. Later I went to Juventus and from there Borussia Dortmund came for me. Juventus was tough for me because it was a huge cluba dn they wanted so much from me. Unfortunately, I joined them when I was captain of the Super Eagles and it was difficult balancing between my club assignment and national team duties, for me, Nigeria naturally came first because, as captain, I had to set good examples for my colleagues. I remember the 2000 Nations Cup. I was away for eight weeks and before I returned, Juventus were top fo the league and I couldn’t get my place back in the team. It was a relief when Dortmund came for me.

Did it last?

Unfortunately, it didn’t. the 2002 World Cup qualifiers soon began and I started running into problems with Mathias Sammer (Dortmund coach). It was the same problem of always leaving to play for Nigeria.

Is that why Dortmund loaned you to FC Bochum?

My relationship with Sammer deteriorated so I had to go on loan. Actually, I had an offer from Betis Sevilla of Spain which was very good and I was keen to go there. But Dortmund blocked the move by imposing a big transfer fee. So I settled for the loan move to Bochum. Bochum is where you made world headlines for the wrong reasons. Why did you give your teanmate Vahid Hashemian a head-butt right in front of television cameras?

He made racist remarks at me. Nobody insults my country to my face and gets away with it.

How did it happen exactly?

The whole thing started in the dressing room at half-time. The match was goalless and we desperately needed to win. After the coach had spoken, the goalkeeper too complained that some of our guys were dribbling too much. I just added to no one in particular. “Gentlemen, let’s play it simple.” The coach agreed with me and said in German: “Genau, genau,” meaning “right, that’s right.” Maybe Vahid felt I was trying to instruct him. So when we returned to the field, he said something like I should never lecture him again because this is not Africa where we behave like animals. Something like that. I can’t take that from anybody.

You broke his nose?

It’s unfortunate that he got hurt, but his action prompted my reaction.

But you should have realized that your reaction would attract greater condemnation. You know in football, a foul gets a yellow card, but a retaliation gets a red?

It’s easier for people to analysis an event after it has happened. But on the spur of the moment, even they couldn’t predict how they would have reacted.

Read more on https://forum.cybereagles.com/viewtop...
5 ماه پیش در تاریخ 1402/11/12 منتشر شده است.
23,952 بـار بازدید شده
... بیشتر