Super Eagles owe me - Onazi opens up on horror injury while on national team duty

Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has opened up on his recent injury problems and how playing for the Nigerian national team was the start of his injury problems. 

The Al-Adalah midfielder has been in the news recently after he was invited to the 32-man Super Eagles squad to face Ghana at the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers. 

Onazi last featured for the national team at a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Seychelles on September 8, 2018.

In an interview with Omasports, Onazi revealed that he picked up the injury that kick-started his injury nightmare while playing with the national team.

Onazi explained: "I just have to give thanks to God because I had a really rough time. And if you want to be fair enough we should be able to rub each other’s back – because to be honest, the injury that got me into this mess that I am, started from the national team.

The former Trabzonspor midfielder also revealed the role of former Super Eagles manager Gernot Rohr during his injury and how he was frozen out of the team. 

“I was trying to tell Gernot Rohr [former Super Eagles coach] then that I had a pain on my Achilles tendon and he was thinking I didn’t want to play a game. This is the problem that got me out of the national team.

"People don’t understand. And so many people were talking on the media, saying ‘why is Onazi refusing to play?’ So I had to go back to my club. I went there and unfortunately, I didn’t pay attention to the treatment and injection that the doctor was giving to me.”

Onazi is on the standby list for the Super Eagles qualifiers and the 29-year-old stated earlier that he is still important to the national team.