Former Super Eagles and Montpellier striker John Utaka has claimed that he left his striking role for Giroud to play on the wings.
Utaka won the league in his first season at Montpellier – Utaka played at the 2002 and 2010 World Cup for Nigeria.
John Utaka has revealed that during his spell with Montpelier, he sacrificed his role for Olivier Giroud, Brila reports.
The former Nigerian international left Premier League club Portsmouth in the January window to play for the Ligue 1 side in 2011.
Utaka played from the left while Senegalese star Souleyman Camara played on the right and the point man role was left for Giroud
Their combination in the attack won them the French league ahead of the star-studded Paris Saint-Germain side in the 2011-12 season
”I was on the left, Souleyman Camara on the right and Olivier Giroud in the center, I had to play on the left because Giroud won’t play on the wing, he is huge and strong and was the point man,” Utaka told Brila.
I sacrificed my position for Olivier Giroud at Montpellier – Utaka. Photo credit: Brila
Utaka scored seven goals in his first season at Montpellier and the former Super Eagles star admitted that winning the league was the high point of his career as a footballer.
His partnership with Camara and Chelsea forward Giroud is regarded as the best in the club’s history. Despite an FA Cup win with Portsmouth in the 2007-08 season, Utaka says coming against the odds with Montpellier made it the most rewarding spell in his career
“We had a lot of young players in the team, that came from the youth team and we are going head to head with PSG for the league. “On paper, they were the best team, because they had the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silver and other great players in the team, but we are more of a collective team
“And with these boys not having much experience and won the league was special for me,“ Utaka added.
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