Slavia Prague defender Igho Ogbu has been handed a first time call up to the senior national team of Nigeria ahead of the dead rubber AFCON qualifiers game against Sao Tome and Principe in Uyo, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Ogbu who moved to the Czech Republic side was the captain of the 2017 Nigeria U17 team that failed to make it to the Africa Cup of Nations, he was however considered for the 2019 U20 team and was a part of the team to the World Cup in Poland.
Last summer, he moved to Slavia from Norwegian side Lillestrom after spending four years in Norway, starting off from Rosenborg where he was twice sent on loan to Levanger and Sogndal respectively , before his permanent move to Rosenborg in 2021
Last season he played in 21 games in all competitions and this season he has already played in seven of their games so far. However his call up wasn’t entirely down to his impressive form according to what we exclusively gathered.
His invitation was made a lot easier with the suspension of Kenneth Omeruo for the game and a recommendation by the deputy technical director of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Paul Aigbogun also played a huge role.
Aigbogun was his coach at U20 and kept monitoring his progress before recommending him to coach of the Super Eagles Jose Peseiro, who in turn sanctioned his call up with Omeruo not available due to suspension.
Osas Mahawi
