Nigeria international and
Villarreal forward Ikechukwu
Uche has denied claims by
coach Stephen Keshi that he
spoke to the Super Eagles
secretary Dayo Enebi about
getting a South African visa for the Afcon qualifier
against Bafana Bafana.
Keshi said that he would never beg Uche to play for
the Super Eagles in a very comprehensive explanation
regarding the shut out of the player at a media parley
on Wednesday. Uche had been ignored since the end
of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations which Nigeria won.
“I don’t want to talk about the issue of Ikechukwu
Uche again and I don’t want anybody to ask me about
him again,” Keshi said while responding to a
journalist’s question.
“Before [last month’s] game against Congo, I did the
list. I didn’t even want to do the list because I never
knew I would come back to handle the team. I told
them I am not the coach that [the NFF] should do the
list but they said no, I should please do the list.
“I did the list and Ikechukwu Uche’s name was on the
25 man list I did. He (Ike Uche) didn’t even know
about it because I did not tell him. Uche then called
me four days later and said “Coach how are you? and
I said boy it is good to hear your voice.” We just
spoke like brothers and that was it.
“I then told [Team] Secretary, Dayo Enebi, to ask if
the players have South African visas and the ones
that don’t have he should take their passports ahead
of time to process their visas.The former Getafe
player was quick to dismiss the ‘big boss’ claim
saying he never at any point in time discussed with
the Super Eagles secretary while wishing the country
a victorious out against Sudan on Saturday.
The former Getafe player was quick to dismiss the
‘big boss’ claim via his Twitter account saying he
never at any point in time discussed with the Super
Eagles secretary while wishing the country a
victorious out against Sudan on Saturday.
Important to clear the air. I never spoke to the
Nigeria team secretary about SA visa or demand
to have a word with the coach at any time.
- Ikechukwu Uche, MON (@ikeuche9) October
9, 2014
We have important games against Sudan. It
should be the focus of the players. I wish the
team all the best in the Nations Cup qualifiers.
-Ikechukwu Uche, MON (@ikeuche9) October 9,
2014
Uche fell out with the ‘Big Boss’ during the 2013 Africa
Cup of Nations in South Africa and has been snubbed
since, missing the Confederations Cup and 2014 Fifa
World Cup despite being Nigeria's highest scoring
striker in Europe in that period.
Source: http://m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/5173446