Former Super Eagles midfielder, Seyi Olofinjana has opened up on one of the most painful chapters of his career, revealing the heart-wrenching silence that accompanied his brutal omission from the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.
Despite wearing the green and white jersey with immense pride over a decorated decade, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Hull City midfielder, who also has the highest coaching qualification from UEFA, admitted that his sudden, unexplained exile right before the global showpiece left a bitter stain on his national team legacy.
Olofinjana was an absolute pillar for the Super Eagles throughout the entire qualification campaign for South Africa 2010, even wearing the captain’s armband for multiple crucial fixtures.
However, when the final tournament squad was drawn up, his name was shockingly absent, without so much as a courtesy word from technical staff or federation officials.
Speaking emotionally on PlayZone podcast, the 48-cap midfield general didn’t hide his disappointment at how the situation was handled.
“2010 would have been my World Cup. Played all the qualifiers, as a matter of fact, I captained half of it. And up till tomorrow, nobody’s told me why I wasn’t selected. Not one person. I didn’t get one phone call from anybody. Not players, not staff. Not one phone call.”
Refusing to chase down answers at the time, the former Kwara United man pointed to a deeper issue within Nigerian football management.
“Why should I ask? It goes back to the culture. If a person that is considered good enough to captain a whole 250 million people just gets dropped, I won’t ask questions. There’s no God-given right for anybody to be selected… but there should have been an explanation. Every single time I wore the colours of Nigeria, I wore it with pride.”
Olofinjana
Despite missing out on the 2010 World Cup main event, Olofinjana returned to serve his country, eventually earning his final cap in March 2011 during a 3-0 victory over Kenya.
