Nigeria international and Villarreal forward Ikechukwu Uchehas denied claims by coach Stephen Keshi that he spoke to the Super Eagles secretary Dayo Enebi about getting a South African visa for the Afcon qualifier against Bafana Bafana.
Keshi said that he would never beg Uche to play for the Super Eagles in a very comprehensive explanation regarding the shut out of the player at a media parley on Wednesday. Uche had been ignored since the end of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations which Nigeria won.
“I don’t want to talk about the issue of Ikechukwu Uche again and I don’t want anybody to ask me about him again,” Keshi said while responding to a journalist’s question.
“Before [last month’s] game against Congo, I did the list. I didn’t even want to do the list because I never knew I would come back to handle the team. I told them I am not the coach that [the NFF] should do the list but they said no, I should please do the list.
“I did the list and Ikechukwu Uche’s name was on the 25 man list I did. He (Ike Uche) didn’t even know about it because I did not tell him. Uche then called me four days later and said “Coach how are you? and I said boy it is good to hear your voice.” We just spoke like brothers and that was it.
“I then told [Team] Secretary, Dayo Enebi, to ask if the players have South African visas and the ones that don’t have he should take their passports ahead of time to process their visas.The former Getafe player was quick to dismiss the ‘big boss’ claim saying he never at any point in time discussed with the Super Eagles secretary while wishing the country a victorious out against Sudan on Saturday.
The former Getafe player was quick to dismiss the ‘big boss’ claim via his Twitter account saying he never at any point in time discussed with the Super Eagles secretary while wishing the country a victorious out against Sudan on Saturday.
Important to clear the air. I never spoke to the Nigeria team secretary about SA visa or demand to have a word with the coach at any time.
– Ikechukwu Uche, MON (@ikeuche9) October 9, 2014
We have important games against Sudan. It should be the focus of the players. I wish the team all the best in the Nations Cup qualifiers.
-Ikechukwu Uche, MON (@ikeuche9) October 9, 2014
Uche fell out with the ‘Big Boss’ during the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa and has been snubbed since, missing the Confederations Cup and 2014 Fifa World Cup despite being Nigeria’s highest scoring striker in Europe in that period
