Izuchukwu Okosi
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia striker Odion Ighalo will make his return to the Nigerian national team for the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs next month against the Black Stars of Ghana.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelNigeria Football Federation boss Amaju Pinnick disclosed this in a Twitter post made on Thursday.
“I just met with @ighalojude, the highest goalscorer at the 2019 edition of the AFCON, now playing and still scoring goals for Saudi Arabia’s biggest football club,” Pinnick tweeted accompanied by a photograph of him and Ighalo.
“Odion has assured that playing for his country will always come first and he is ready to ensure that we do play at this year’s @FIFAWorldCup in Qatar,” Pinnick enthused.
Former Manchester United striker Ighalo was not released by former Saudi Arabian club Al Shabab for Nigeria’s 2021 Africa Cup of Nations campaign but that seems not to be an issue on his new club.
Ighalo who also had stints at Watford, Udinese, Granada and also in the Chinese league made his debut for the Asian Football Confederation, AFC champions in the Club World Cup in United Arab Emirates, UAE.
Ighalo scored an equalising goal in Al Hilal’s 6-1 demolition of Al Jazira FC. He was impressive on his new side’s 1-0 defeat suffered against Chelsea on Wednesday evening.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
