Odemwingie relishing his ‘fresh start’

Osaze Odemwingie is delighted to be wearing a Super Eagles green jersey again after patching up his differences with Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi in time to make a mark in Group F in Brazil

After 18 months in the international wilderness, during which the team won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the Stoke City striker has made up with Keshi, relishing what he describes as a fresh start, 12 years after he made his international debut.

He spoke with UK-based newspaper, The Guardian.

On his return to the team

Many people wanted to see me back in the national team; some wrote to me to say that they missed me in the green colours, because I’ve done pretty well for Nigeria. I’ve had a lot of man-of-the-match performances, and I’ve won player of the year.

In the past few years, my only regret is that as I’ve become a better player, I probably would have got more goals for myself and the country, but I missed out a bit. I’ve missed a year and a half, missed out on the cup they won, unfortunately. I wish I was part of that squad because I’ve played in four Africa Nations and got three bronze medals, never a gold. But I can’t look back. This is another opportunity for me.

Does he have anything to prove?

I do. And I don’t want to go to Brazil, leaving my family – Noah, my son, a newborn baby, Theo, and Sarah, my wife – at home alone and go through the motions. I want to go there and, every minute I get to play, whether I start or don’t start, make the best out of it, because the moment leaving my family at the door, looking at me waving, was a bit emotional.

On his falling out with Stephen Keshi

Coach Keshi took over and in the first game I was subbed quite early, which I’ve never been used to because I always played 90 minutes, both for club and national team. So I felt: ‘OK, he’s probably not sure about me.’ I thought I should leave the national team for now. It could be that I misjudged the situation, and after watching how he does it … he made a lot of early substitutions during the qualifiers and the African Cup, so then I was like: ‘OK, I shouldn’t have taken it in the way I did.’

I’m humble enough to admit that, because when the same things happen to other players, then clearly it’s not personal to you. So for me, it was then a case of coming to him and saying: ‘Let’s hug it out and move on.’ He was happy to do that. The Nigeria team psychologist also played a big part. He came to see me in January, spoke to the coach and explained: ‘Peter’s an honest guy and, most importantly, he’s a good player who can help your team.’ The coach agreed with that and gave me a chance again.

On the unifying factor of football

Football unites Nigeria. Politicians even say that whenever Super Eagles are playing, there is always peace; everyone loves one anfother, especially when we play well. The past victories that Nigeria achieved in tournaments, they keep showing the games again and again on TV up to when people know every pass and the commentary.

There is not much entertainment in the country and this is the thing the people will look forward to. We know that because we were there once. That’s why sometimes I had a double feeling: ‘Shall I go back to the team or not?’ Then I remembered and thought: ‘There are many boys like you that dress up in the kit and watch.’ I thought: ‘To hell with all this negativity, I’m going.’

His expectations in Brazil

I look at Ghana in the last World Cup and they almost got to the semi-final and if you look at the names of the players, they’re not any better than our team we have today. They succeeded with their work ethic, with their determination, and Asamoah Gyan was in good form. So hopefully we can better our previous outings.