Arsenal Midfielder Iwobi Was Reluctant To Represent Nigeria At First, Dad Reveals

Alex Iwobi’s father, Chuka Iwobi, has admitted that the Arsenal midfielder was initially reluctant to represent the Nigeria national team until he convinced him and accompanied him to Abuja to attend a training camp for the Dream Team VI in 2015.

If the former England youth-teamer had doubts about committing his international future to the Super Eagles, that changed completely when he visited the Fifa Goal Project and saw first hand the training regimen and quality of players in camp.

“When Nigeria came calling for Alex, there was a lot of negativity, we heard all these. My first experience was when Alex was invited by Samson Siasia, we got the letter saying to us come to camp,”  said Chuka Iwobi.

 “And I said to Alex, let us go. Alex obviously was a bit reluctant and I said to Alex, as your dad I will go with you. The call by Nigeria to me was an honour, a privilege.

“We went to the Goal Project where Samson Siasia had his team, the quality of football is amazing, we were thinking he was going to go there and waste his time but I can tell you it was remarkable, the quality of the players. ”

Having trained with the Nigeria U23s, Iwobi waited for about nine months before making his international debut for the Super Eagles against Democratic Republic of Congo before earning his second cap against Cameroon few days later.

“Against Mali, it was an emotional moment for me seeing my son in the green white green colours of Nigeria, this is something I could not achieve as a player, ” the former Vasco da Gama, Enugu star added.

Iwobi has been included in Nigeria’s provisional roster for the Olympic Games but it remains to be seen if Arsenal will permit him to play in the competition as it clashes with pre-season training and the new Premier League season.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel