Bursaspor defender Taye Taiwo has said that he
would be glad to get a recall to play for the Super
Eagles.
The 29-year-old has 53 caps for the country but
has been shut out of the national team since
coach Stephen Keshi took over as coach.
Since then, Elderson Echiejile and recently Juwon
Oshaniwa have held sway in the left back position
of the national team.
Taiwo who has never hidden his passion to play
for the Eagles feels his playing regularly in the
Turkish top flight is a testimony that he is still
active and won’t mind getting an invite to
represent Nigeria.
"I’m still very much in active football. At my club
I play regularly and my manager keeps wondering
why I’ve been shut out of the Nigeria national
team,” Taiwo told Goal.
"I am a Nigerian and if given the opportunity to
do so, I will definitely do that with open arms.
Why not? I will surely come.
"This is my country and I will never turn down any
invitation because that has always been my
priority."
Known for his prowess at free kicks due to his
powerful left foot, the defender feels Nigeria is
missing a lot of attributes.
"Most times, when we lose set pieces during
international games, I feel very bad because I
would have scored if I was there,” he said.
The 2006 Caf Young Player of the Year also
dismissed claims that he had issues with Keshi
which could have been responsible for his
national team blackout.
"At Dynamo Kiev, I called to congratulate him on
his appointment and expressed my willingness to
be a part of his team, he assured me all would be
well but till date, he never deemed it fit to send
me an invite to the national team,” he continued.
"He would not pick my calls and I kept wondering
what was wrong. Anyway, I still respect him and I
can tell you that I don’t have any issues with him,
his assistants and those at the Nigeria Football
Federation."
On the inability of the reigning African champions
to make it to Equatorial Guinea 2015, the former
Olympique Marseille defender said it was a
tragedy for the country despite tipping them to
successfully defend their crown following their
exploits at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
"It is a big disaster that the Super Eagles failed to
make the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
"After our performance at the World Cup, I had
boasted to my African teammates that Nigeria
would successfully defend the title but
unfortunately, we missed out. It’s a big shame,"
he concluded.
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