Al-Shabab of Saudi Arabia striker, Odion Jude Ighalo has hinted that the respect he has for Nigeria as his country and to Super Eagles’ coach, Gernot Rohr could spur him into making a return to the national team, megasportsarena.com reports.
Although he admitted he is yet to reach any decision after several months of speculation over his possible return from international retirement to don the green-and-white once again, Ighalo hinted that he is eager to make a return.
Following his burst of goals in Saudi Arabia, where he hit a brace at the weekend, talked has resurfaced about a recall to the Eagles for Ighalo, who also gained rave reviews and superlatives in the first half of his loan deal at Manchester United of England from Shanghai Greenland Shenhua of China.
Talk has resurfaced about a national team recall for the Flying Eagles’ captain at Egypt 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, despite his failure to continue in stunning form with United and regardless of the fact that he was highly criticized for his failure to score at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
However, Ighalo scored 16 goals in 35 appearances for the three-time African champions before his abrupt retirement from the Eagles after emerging top scorer at Egypt 2019 Africa Cup of Nations and he has hit the ground running at Al-Shabab, since leaving Man United in January after the expiration of his loan agreement.
On the back of his impressive performances, Rohr issued a veiled desire of having the attacker step out of retirement and Ighalo has now revealed he would take a decision regarding the request based on his respect for the country and the Franco-German tactician.
Ighalo told BBC Sport Africa: “I have been approached by the coach, but I haven’t decided yet whether this is a path I want to follow again. We’ve been talking about it for a while and hopefully soon I will make that decision.
“I need to decide because I have huge respect for my country and the coach, so it’s only fair to let people know where you stand.”
