From Flying Eagles to Olympic team and now Super Eagles, Shehu Abdulahi has come of age. He says making the World Cup team came as a pleasant surprise to him. He spoke with TUNDE LIADI, before jetting out to Russia World Cup. Excerpts:
HOW was the feeling like in your first time for the Super Eagles?
I felt very happy about it. I was initially given a surprise call before I now got an invite. I am happy about it.
You have played in the U-20 and U-23 teams and now you have the opportunity to play for the Super Eagles and now the World Cup in Russia. How will you describe the progression?
It meant a lot to me as a player. It is a dream of every player to represent his country and for me playing in the Under 20 and 23 have boosted my career and now that I am representing my country at the senior World Cup in Russia I am overwhelmed with joy. It is something that I can’t forget in my life and it is already part of history.
Going to the World Cup is beyond description. It is every player’s dream and I am extremely happy about it. I cannot forget it. I cherish every opportunity.
Who was the first person you called after your name came out in the final list?
It was my mother because she has always supported my career from the start. I called her and she prayed for me.
Who will you say is the funniest person in camp?
I will say it is John Ogu. He always makes us laugh.
Who is the most fashionable Eagles player?
It is Kenneth Omeruo.
What is the relationship between you and Ahmed Musa?
Musa is my very close friend. He is more or less my brother. I tell him almost everything about myself. I call him when I have a problem or an issue to resolve and his advice has been very crucial to me. He also shares his problem with me.
What will you say is your biggest experience as a footballer?
Every game comes with its own nuance. You have a lot to learn from every game that you play. I will rather like to enjoy my game and leave the pressure out of it.
Who will you pick between Messi and Ronaldo?
Ronaldo.
If not football, what will you have been doing?
I would have been a businessman because that is what my father wanted me to be after schooling. He wanted me to join him in his business. He is into cement sales.
You were red carded against Uruguay at the FIFA Under 20 World Cup in Turkey in a second-round game. What will you say you learned from that episode?
It was a sad experience for me. I felt bad about it because I got a red card at the World Cup and I let my team down. It is part of football but I have to say that I was not happy for putting my team under pressure. What I have tried to learn from that is that I must try to avoid anything that could make me make the same mistake.
Could you share your experience while playing in the Nigerian league with us and what do you think can be done to improve the standards of the league?
I think it better now than before. I am following the league and I feel we still have a lot to do to make our league one of the best in the world. I don’t want to talk too much about it but I feel we have a lot to improve on and I know our league can be better if well packaged.
You left Plateau United for Kano Pillars
The situation in Jos then made me reconsider my stay there and I had to follow the instructions of my family members who told me to return to Kano because of the crisis there. I had to go back to Kano because of the family pressure but I must confess that I enjoyed my stay in Jos because they showed me love. They took me as their son and I can’t forget Plateau United because it was there my whole journey to stardom started.
In your final game with Anorthosis in the Cypriot league before you joined Bursaspor of Turkey, your emotion got the better of you and shed tears. Could you share that moment?
It was a memorable experience for me and I can’t forget that moment in my life. Anorthosis is a club that I love so much and then the people in the club also showed that they love me too. They didn’t want me to leave at all but I had to move ahead. In the send-off game for me, the entire crowd was shouting my name and some of the fans were crying. At that moment, I couldn’t control myself again. It was a big surprise to me seeing people that are over 60 years of age crying because I wanted to leave the club. It was this that made me respond the way I did. I felt sad that I had to leave but I had to go fulfil my ambition elsewhere.
Bursaspor didn’t start the season well, what was wrong?
When I joined them we had a lot of new players and that affected us. It took us a while to blend. We also had a new coach and it was a difficult moment for the team. But we remained in the elite division at the end of it all.
What do you think you need to improve on as a footballer?
As a player, we strive to improve on a daily basis. I will continue to do that until the end of my career. I will keep striving to improve every day and at every game. This is World Cup and for me to take this team I must know why I am here and I promise to give my best and to continue to seek areas of improvement.
This is your first World Cup, what have you learnt from older and experienced players in the team?
It is the biggest event in world football and as I said earlier it is part of what I share with Ahmed Musa because he has been at the World Cup before and he has told me a lot of things. He always tells me this is World Cup and that it is different. He told me that the whole world will be watching and the stadia will be filled to the brim. He said I must be ready and concentrate on it. I am working on ensuring that I give over 200 percent at the World Cup.
Nigeria were stripped of three points during the 2018 World Cup qualifier from the game against Algeria when it was discovered that you were ineligible to play because of the yellow card you got. How did you feel at that time?
When I heard the story I was shocked and I had to call our head coach, Gernot Rohr, to speak with him directly. It was something that I was not thinking about and it just suddenly popped up in the media that Shehu Abdullahi cost Nigeria three points. I was very sad. I got the yellow card in 2015 against Swaziland and we all know that when you are cautioned in the preliminary round it won’t count in the main qualifiers but I was told FIFA changed their rule. It is not my job to know that. I think it is a big lesson for the team. It is a mistake that happened and it can happen to anybody. However, I am happy that it didn’t deny us a place at the World Cup because it would have been so sad.
How did you relate with Ola Aina and Tyronne Ebuehi who are your direct rivals in the national team?
This is Nigeria national team and it is not my father’s compound. It is our country and we are here to represent our fatherland. We are not here to joke at all.
Even at club level, you encounter this kind of things. It makes you stay on top of your game, which you may not do if you don’t have competitors. It is the usual thing in football and so it is not in my power to decide who will start and who will be in the team but I must strive to fulfil my role well, which is to give my best.
You have played in various roles for the Super Eagles. As a defensive midfielder and in the right back, which position do you prefer?
Versatility makes you a good player. Coaches like to work with players that can provide him with various options. It is not in my power to determine where to play for the Eagles. I am comfortable in either central defence or right back. Sometimes I even play in the midfield. It is the same and when the coach decides I will take it up from there.
You have won two bronze medals at the U-20, CHAN tournament and Olympics games. Which of them is your best outing?
I think the best one is the CHAN tournament. Because if you watched all the games, you would notice that I started from the bench before I was told to come in, in the second half of our quarterfinal match with Morocco when we were still losing 3-0 and we came back to win the game 4-3. If you look at that CHAN team, we played very well and we were able to achieve something. Nobody gave us a chance in the game with Morocco when we were 3-0 down by halftime.
Against Ghana in the semi-final, we did our best but lost to them. That is the tournament that made me.
