A former Super Eagles winger and playmaker, Osaze Odemwingie has finally opened up on why he retired from the national team npflupdates.com reports.
Osaze made his Super Eagles debut as a teenager back in 2002; and it was in a match against Kenya which Nigeria won 3-0. He scored his first goal for the three-time African champions two years later in 2004 in an African Cup Of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Kenya.
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While in active service, Osaze helped Nigeria’s Super Eagles win three different AFCON bronze medals in 2006, 2008 and 2010. Sadly, be wasn’t part of the Stephen Keshi Super Eagles squad that won the AFCON title in 2013. Speculations babe it that, there was a dispute between the two professionals.
However, Osaze made a comeback to the Super Eagles team for the 2014 FIFA men’s world cup tournament in Brazil. He’d retire from international football shortly after the tournament where Nigeria was knocked out in the Round of 16 by France.
Osaze Odemwingie discloses reason he retired prematurely from the Super Eagles
Speaking on what led to his early retirement, the former Stoke City winger, denied dispute reports. But went ahead to reveal it was a knee injury that caused his early retirement.
According to the former Westbrom Albion winger, he’d have played a few years even if not for the injury.
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“Why did I stop playing for Nigeria early? It was not early. I was probably…in the World Cup 2014, I was 33. Yeah, I could still play a few years but I got injured right after the World Cup. I had no preseason on that week, I played three games in a role. My legs were tired. So my muscles didn’t hold the knee in a position that usually it will hold. It would hold the knee but the knee just went. Yeah, the quads were tired” he was quoted by Soccernet Nigeria.
