Former Super Eagles defender Ifeanyi Udeze has rued his inability to seal a deal with the Italian Old Lady, Juventus at the height of his career, adding his life wouldn’t have been the same if he’d signed for the Italian giants in 2002.
Now an on air personality with a Lagos-based sports radio, caught the eyes with his dazzling forward play after he ceased the Super Eagles’ left back position from Celestine Babayaro. He starred at the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Mali and the 2002 Korea /Japan FIFA World Cup.
“The only regret I had in my football career has been not singing for Juventus in 2002,” Udeze, who would mark his 41st birthday on July 21, explained. “What happened was that after the AFCON 2002 in Mali, we had a game in London against Paraguay which ended 1-1 draw and after the game, the then President of Juventus sent his aides with his private jet to pick me from London to Italy.”
The then fast-paced Udeze was plying his trade with Greek top side PAOK Athens and he admitted that the prospect of earning a fat pocket and turning out for the zebras in Italy was tempting yet he was unable to seal the deal for obvious reasons.
He continued: “Of course, I wanted to sign for Juventus in London after the game because we had a discussion from 8 pm in the evening till about 4 am the following morning.
“I told them I don’t have a problem going to Juventus but the problem I have was for them to negotiate with my club PAOK Athens. Both teams can agree on terms but Juventus rejected my agent and they never wanted my club to get involved in the deal at that initial stage as they just wanted me to sign a pre-contract in order to join the team later
“They assured me that they will handle PAOK because to them, PAOK is a small club. But I rejected their offer insisting that if FIFA found out that I still have a contract with PAOK, I would get into trouble.
“We spoke for more than 12 hours through an interpreter but I insisted I must first go to my club in Greece. Basically what Juventus wanted to do is for me to sign a pre-contract, then they will go and discuss with PAOK in order to beat down my price.
“And had PAOK not agreed, they would have taken the case to FIFA and I would have suffered and that was what happened why I didn’t eventually join Juventus,” he submitted.
Yet Udeze who was capped 35 times with the Super Eagles admitted that playing for the national team was one of the best things ever to have happened to him, adding it was great pleasure to have featured alongside some of the best stars of his generation.
He crooned: “I have no regret playing for the Super Eagles because I was very lucky to have played alongside some of the best players Nigeria had ever produced.
“I was really opportune to have played with the likes of Finidi George, Jay Jay Okocha, Kanu Nwankwo, Tijani Babangida, Emmanuel Amuneke, Joseph Yobo, Garba Lawal, Taribo West, Isaac Okonkwo and many more as such, I have no regret at all paying for Nigeria.”
Udeze who made his breakthrough with Bendel Insurance and with stints with other European clubs such as Kavala FC and AEK Athens in Greece as well as West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League, while he spoke about his career and life generally. Excerpts…
Role model in football: My role model back then was Roberto Carlos of Brazil. He was a fantastic player that I looked up to when I was playing for PAOK. I made sure I watched every Real Madrid game because of Roberto Carlos. I made sure I learn new tricks from him because any right full or left full-back needs to work on speed because when you overlap the most important thing is your recovery which is the most important thing. In Nigeria, my role model was Ben Iroha whom I described as a very confident defender.
Breakthrough with Super Eagles: My biggest achievement was when I joined the national team especially for a player playing for a team like PAOK in Greece to contest for the same position with a player like Celestine Babayaro who was then playing for Chelsea in England. Luckily for me, Babayaro did not honour the Invitation against Zambia in January 2001 at the National Stadium in Lagos. If Babayaro had honoured the invitation, I wouldn’t have played because Coach Jo Bonfere was looking at me whether I will be able to help the team or not. As a coach, he has his own boys whom he believed in and for a player like me coming into the team, it was always going to be difficult. But some of the senior players assured him that I will deliver and that he should give me the chance in the match. So I was able to get the job done and should be one of my greatest achievements as a footballer.
The good times at PAOK Athens: It is true that I had offers to leave PAOK Athens soon after the 2002 World Cup but I never knew that PAOK fans loved me so much. They were always afraid about me leaving PAOK and I don’t know why. They loved me so much and I loved them too as well as the city. I had some good times there.
Even my agent has a way of always discouraging me from taking offers and was always simply saying ‘don’t worry, we would find something’. But in the end, I went on loan to West Brom in England and when my loan expired they wanted me to stay with them but PAOK refused. I returned to Nigeria until PAOK resumed training and on returning to Greece by the end of August to see if I would move and make my deal permanent at West Brom even though they were relegated. I was ready to stay with West Brom and help them to get promotion back to EPL but PAOK but refused. After then, I started having problems with the coach which prompted me to tell them I wanted an outright sale in order to stay with West Brom permanently. I realised I can’t work with the coach at PAOK but they refused, and insisted that I had a contract and that if I don’t come back, they will report me to FIFA. I tried to push but in the end, I had to go back to play PAOK.
Coping with life after retirement: I have gone through a lot and former players that experienced what I went through are forced into drugs or had psychiatric issues. It wasn’t easy at all for me especially when I was duped by someone I trusted so much. But this guy duped me and some other guys who were working for me and very close to me. Now they can’t get anything from me again, I’ve pushed them away and started managing the little I have for myself. Because of that, they started spoiling my name and went as far as telling a journalist that I take drugs and drink ogogoro on the street of Ajegunle. Yet I don’t live in Ajegunle but in Elegushi. We need to go through some things in life for you to understand what life is really all about.
Relationships with former players: We relate very well with one another especially with the likes of Joseph Yobo, Julius Aghaowa, Emmanuel Emenike, John Utaka among others are my very good friends .They were very lucky as they didn’t put all their eggs in one basket. But the problem was that I trusted so much and put all my eggs in one basket by investing heavily in failed businesses. But so far, so good, I give God all the glory.
Read Also: LATEST: NFF Plans Ghana, Canada Friendly For Super Eagles
Tied to football for life: I am not going to quit football because if I had left football I wouldn’t be talking about sports on the radio. I still try to advise the younger ones on the radio about some mistakes we made so they can listen and learn. I quit football early due to injury. Sometimes, I shed tears because it wasn’t normal that I quit football at a young age, and that’s the truth. This was shortly after I had a minor injury in our last World Cup qualifying match in 2005 in Kano against that cost us the 2006 World Cup appearance in Germany. I had a minor injury called minuscule and I returned to my club to take care of myself. I got a call from Nigeria that I should not do an operation which I refused to listen to. I did the operation and there was no pain and that was it till today.
Views on current Super Eagles: I think they are doing their best as we all know Super Eagles is not what it used to be. But they are giving out their best and for me, I won’t blame anybody because most of us that played with our heart and soul after getting injured that’s all. If I tell you since I got injured, NFF didn’t call me up till today. That was why I didn’t go to AFCON 2006 and I refused to honour the invitation because I got injured against Angola in 2005 and nobody called or asked how I was faring.
Follow us on Facebook
https://youtu.be/_Nb9cG3HWS8
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.