On loan Roma forward Sadiq Umar says his omission from Nigeria’s 30 man provisional list for the World Cup didn’t come to him as a surprise despite rumours of his initial inclusion in the list.
Speaking on a Liberty Radio Kaduna programme anchored by award winning Kaduna Sports Presenter Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman, Jololo like Sadiq is called by friends said he saw his exclusion coming.
The lanky forward who scored six goals in ten games for Dutch side NAC Breda, where he spent the final six months of the season on loan said he would have been shocked if his name was included even though he felt he deserve to be given a chance to fight for a spot in the senior national team of Nigeria.
” Few days before the naming of the squad friends and even some people working for the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) said I was in contention to make the list but I wasn’t moved by their statements “, Sadiq said in the interview monitored by Owngoalnigeria.com.
” When I read that I have been included in the list. I told my friends to wait for the official list from the NFF before celebrating. When it came out and my name wasn’t in it. I was laughing while they were sad because I didn’t expect to make the list.
” The time I was confident of getting a call up was immediately after the Rio Olympics. Some of my teammates who didn’t play as much as I did at the Olympics were called up excluding me the top scorer of the team.
“Anyway I would have been pleasantly surprised if my name was in the list but I will keep pushing and giving my best for my clubside and maybe one day I will get to play for the senior national team of Nigeria “, he concluded.
Shedrack Obi
