A France-based Nigerian youngster, Michael Andrew has taken delight from a golden opportunity to meet up personally with Cote d’Ivoire stars, Frank Kessie and Serge Aurier at their training camp in his neighbourhood at the end of last week, megasportsarena.com reports
The Ivoriens were in the community a friendly in the first international break of the season and Andrew, who made waves playing youth football in Lagos before he traveled to France in 2011, took the chance of a lifetime to meet the soccer stars.
Unfortunately for Andrew, his ‘adopted team’ lost Friday’s match 2-1 against Benin Republic at Stade Michel-d’Ornano, which drew a small crowd of only 1,000 spectators that saw Stéphane Sessegnon get an 87th minute winning goal with a right footed penalty kick into the bottom right corner, after earlier hits into either net by Roger Assalé for The Elephants, off an assist by Kessié, and Jodel Dossou’s right footed shot from the centre of the box for The Squirrels.
Although he is a full-fledged Nigerian from Edo State, and used to be known as Jimoh Igidigbo while growing up in Akoka area of Lagos, Andrew opted to show intense affinity with the Ivorien duo, who he went on to label with a personal ownership tag as his good national team players.
He will feel inclined to fully and truly identify with Aurier and Kessie as African brothers from the West Coast of the continent, and the fact that he now speaks fluent French, having settled down since and is already married to a lady from the European country and they are blessed with a kid.
The dark-skinned youngster, who had stints with First Eleven FC of Yaba, National Grassroots Dream Team of Surulere and FC Ebedie of Shagamu during his time in Nigeria, took to social media to reveal his excitement over meeting the Ivory Coast stars on a special Sunday in France.
Andrew wrote: “With my good national team player Serge Aurier and Kessie Ivory coast players happy Sunday.”
