I was just unlucky against Spain - GAMBO MUHAMMADD Although many have said he could not convert the chance that fell to him in the match against Spain because of stage fright, Home based Eagle and Kano Pillars top striker, Gambo Mohammed has said it was luck that failed him at that critical moment. In this exclusive interview with Weekly Trust, Mohammed said he has since put behind him that unfortunate incident and is looking forward to scoring goals for the national team. He spoke on his career and plans for the future. Excerpts: A number of clubs in Europe and Africa have shown interest in getting your services. How happy are you with this development? I am very happy with the interest so many clubs in Africa and Europe have shown in me. Personally, that is what I have been praying for and now that my dream is about to come through, I have nothing else to say than to thank almighty Allah for his grace. Club Africain of Tunisia and Al-qurobah of Saudi Arabia are among the clubs that have put their bids before Pillars for you. Which club are you going to join? What I am doing at the moment is prayers. I do not want to make any wrong move so I am praying to God to direct me to the right club. I cannot decide for God. It is God that will say go here and I will go happily. Like I said for now, I am praying to God. Finally you have realised your dream of playing for Nigeria. How does this make you feel? Yes, it took time but it is happening now. I am very happy because every good player wants to play for his fatherland. If clubs are now looking for me from all directions, maybe it’s because I am a national team player. It means a lot for me. I hope to keep doing my best so as not to disappoint the coaches who have shown so much confidence in me. You had your ‘baptism of fire’ against world champions Spain at the FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil. How would you assess your performance? I did my best within the period I was introduced into the match. It was an amazing experience because even as I have been a part of the national team training camps, the Confederation Cup match against Europe and World Champions Spain was my first for the Super Eagles. I cannot forget that experience. But you missed a goal which many people are still talking about... I wasn’t. It happens in football. Anything can happen in football. That was not the first time for a player or striker to miss a goal. I have missed goals before and I have scored so many goals in my career. And I hope to score more goals before I quit. Most people are of the opinion that you lacked confidence at that crucial moment. What really happened? Were you afraid? It has nothing to do with fear. Anybody who says I was afraid is not being fair to me. I have been playing football for over ten years now and it was still football that I was asked to play so how could that be? Moreover, in that very match other experienced strikers like Brown Ideye, Jospeh Akpala and Ahmed Musa missed some chances. Would you say it was fear and lack of experience? I was unlucky against Spain. If I were lucky, I would have scored that goal. Would you say you do not regret missing what is generally referred to as a glaring chance? Any player who misses such a chance must regret it. I sometimes think about what would have happened to me, if I had scored that goal. However, like I keep saying God knows better why I missed that chance. I have put that behind me. Did the officials and your team mates scold you for missing that chance? Nobody was angry with me. Nobody said any harsh word to me. It was not even discussed. After all what was there for anybody to talk about. I was not the only player who missed a goal in that game. My team mates missed and our opponents also missed chances. So there was really nothing for anybody to be angry about. Do you share in the opinion of many that the missed opportunity is going to have adverse effect on your career and reputation as a striker? It is true that if I scored that goal, it would have impacted positively on my career but even as I did not score, I have no regret because God knows why it happened that way. However, clubs are still coming for me so missing that goal has not done any harm to my reputations as a good striker. Those who believe in me still believe that I am a very good striker. But you were the first to score against Cote d’Ivoire in the CHAN qualifier in Kaduna. Do you see it as compensation for that miss in Brazil? Personally I do not want to look at it that way. If I say yes, it would look as if I committed any offence by not scoring that goal. I missed a chance and that’s all. All the same, I want to thank God for that opportunity. I hope to score more goals for Eagles. With the result in Kaduna, how confident are you that Eagles will qualify for the 2014 CHAN in South Africa? I am highly optimistic that we are going to break the jinx. Although we have not qualified for the past two editions, this one won’t elude us. We have good players in the team. Although it was not an easy game, we were able to win with a wide margin and I don’t think it will be easy for Cote d’Ivoire to eliminate us. That is not to say we are going to be complacent. We shall approach the return fixture as if we lost the first leg. From the body language of the Ivorians, it seems you guys will be in for tough times in the return leg. How prepared are the Eagles to handle anything that would be thrown at them in Abidjan? We are professionals and we should be able to handle any situation that would present itself. We know that they would do everything to beat us but we are ready for them. The fact is that this is an international fixture and nobody will give them undue advantage over us. We defeated them fairly so I do not see any reason they will attempt to pay us back with evil. The era of Coach Stephen Keshi has witnessed a new trend where so many home based players are given a chance to play for the Super Eagles. How happy are you? Waooooo! Keshi is a father to us. He is a wonderful man. He gives us maximum respect and attention. Every player in the league is now happy with him. By expressing so much confidence in us, he has proven to all that there is quality in the domestic league. Don’t forget that Mba scored the vital goals that gave Nigeria her third AFCON title. Look at the performance of Obaobana in the defence. I want to thank him for giving us the opportunity to represent this country even as home based players. How do you think this is helping the Nigerian league? It is a good the domestic league. For instance, so many players in the league have got foreign contracts because they have been exposed by the coach. He gave them the opportunity to play for the Super Eagles where they were seen by some of these clubs. In my candid opinion, there are even more players in the league who deserve a chance to play for the Super Eagles. Let’s discuss Pillars. You have been with Pillars for a long time. What makes the club formidable? You see we have been playing for a long time. Players don’t leave Pillars anyhow. We have formed a serious understanding among ourselves. We are like one big family where there is so much love and respect for one another. We also understand ourselves on the field of play like Barcelona players. In fact we play like Barcelona. I think that is why everybody likes kano Pillars. So you won’t leave Kano Pillars for any other Nigerian club? It is needless. There is no reason for me to go in search of greener pastures when I am already enjoying greener pastures in Kano. We have a good team so I don’t see any reason to leave Pillars for another Nigerian club. This is simply the best club in the country and if I am not going abroad, I will continue to play here. I have everything I want and I don’t see any reason to move. But which other Nigerian clubs do you admire? I like Rangers and Heartland. If I were to play for any other Nigerian club it would have been any of this two but my brother I want us to look beyond Nigeria. Every good player wants to play professional football abroad and that is also my dream. Like I said before, clubs are coming for me from Africa and Europe but I am still praying over it. As one of the top strikers in the Nigerian league, which strikers do you admire most? Do you have a role model? I admire Ronaldo of Brazil, Lionel Messi, David Villa, Fernando Torres and a host of others but my role model is the Brazilian Ronaldo. I have always admired him. I also try to score goals the way he did in his playing time. Which European club do you support? I am a Manchester United fan. Right from when I was very small, that’s the club that I supported. I am happy when the club is doing very well in the premiership and in Europe. Among the Super Eagles players, who do you admire most? I admire many of them but my best player in Eagles is John Mikel Obi. I like him so much. His ball passing ability is fantastic. Anytime he is playing, I enjoy watching him. Apart from Mikel, I like Kenneth Omeruo and Nnamdi Odumandi. How is Mikel’s relationship with the rest of the players in the Super Eagles?. Mikel is a nice guy. He knows me for long. We have a very cordial relationship in camp. He is a nice guy and we were always discussing. He is not an arrogant guy. He cracks jokes that make everybody around him to laugh.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 10:27:14 +0000
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