Super Eagles midfielder John Ogu has stressed his dissatisfaction over the non inclusion of any Nigerian player in the CAF best XI for 2018 at the CAF award ceremony staged in Dakar, Senegal.
The Hapoel Be’er Sheva midfielder who watched the award ceremony with keen interest stated that it was disrespectful to Nigerian football and it’s players not to have them represented in the best XI category after a successful 2018 where the team represented Africa at the World Cup and also booked qualification for the 2019 AFCON in Egypt.
The combative midfielder had been rooting for his midfield compatriot Wilfred Ndidi to be part of the top players after a successful league season in the English Premier League with Leicester City where he was adjudged one of the best defensive midfielders in the league and his performance and contributions for the Eagles at the World Cup and the AFCON qualifiers.
Buttressing his point, Ogu on Twitter wrote. “How someone comes up here and say clubs they play matters . Like are you kidding me? Ekong, Ndidi had a better season for their clubs, made it to the World Cup. Had a decent performance at the World Cup and you say clubs they play in?Aurier, Bailly, Keita all didn’t make it.”
Ogu also went on to state that giving awards should never be based solely the might of the club one plays in but a player’s overall output. “Let’s put sentiment aside, I can argue this anywhere that @Ndidi25 ,@WTroostEkong ,even @ighalojude all should be there . Award is based on your performance for club and country and not how big of a club you play in. Ndidi plays for arguably the best league in the world”
Players that made it to the CAF best XI include: Denis Onyango (Mamelodi Sundowns/Uganda), Serge Aurier (Tottenham/Ivory Coast), Medhi Benatia (Juventus/Morocco), Eric Bailly (Manchester United/Ivory Coast), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli/Senegal); Naby Keita (Liverpool/Guinea), Thomas Partey (Atletico Madrid/Ghana), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria); Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal/Gabon), Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal).
