Ex-Man City defender Onuoha regrets snubbing Super Eagles
Former Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers centre-back Nedum Onuoha has expressed regrets after failing to play for Nigeria on the international scene.
Onuoha, born in Delta State in Nigeria, opted to play for England youth teams between 2005 and 2009 but he could make it into the Three Lions.
The 35-year-old confirmed that he was approached by former Super Eagles coach Berti Vogts ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana but he turned down the opportunity to retain his regular playing time in Roberto Mancini’s team.
“I’ve seen so many people [represent the national team]. For me, every time I watch Nigeria it just feels a certain way.” Onuoha told Sports Mole.
“It’s a shame because Nigerians were criticising me for saying that I was begging to play for England but I never was because I am who I am. But I was playing in England in the Premier League.
“In the lead up to the AFCON championships, you could hear how people were speaking ill of it, the timing of it, not taking it seriously and the like, and that frustrated me so I was continually pushing back, pushing back against it and initially when I was [at Man City] under Mancini, I said to Berti Vogts, the then Nigeria manager, that I couldn’t go because I wasn’t comfortable in my club position.”
After spending the majority of his playing career in England, Onuoha drew the curtain on his career in 2020 after a two-year stint in the MLS with Real Salt Lake.
