Despite being a member of the Super Eagles’ 2013 AFCON winning squad, Ashod left-back, Juwon Oshaniwa, has been left out of the national team. The 23-year-old tells ’TANA AIYEJINA about his European sojourn, winning the AFCON, life as a bachelor and more in this interview
How is the season in Israel?
We thank God and we are trying our best. We are sixth on the league, so we are doing well. I have had regular football, thanks to God, He has been my headlight all through. He is the secret behind everything that I do. If you put God first in everything you do, you will always be outstanding in everything you do. So, I thank God so far, because it has been a regular season for me.
Are you thinking of leaving Ashod soon?
I am always positive in anything I do. Of course football is all about movement. I have my aspirations as well because we keep striving towards greener pastures but my desire for the club is to see them doing well. So far, the journey just started. We are doing well with a collection of new players and new coach, so it’s not bad for me.
How do you find life in Israel?
I am trying my best here. They have good people, good culture. It’s unlike Nigeria where there are diverse cultures. If you abide by the rules and regulations of their land, you will have things going on very well for you.
Do you think Israel is a nice place for African players to begin their European careers?
For sure, there are racists everywhere but it’s not as bad here as you have in some other places. It’s a good place for African players. All you need to do is just to adapt to the playing style and conditions here. If you are a player with a target; you are thinking of playing among the best, you have to adapt to any situation you find yourself. For me, Israel is a very good place for any African player to start from.
So where do you hope to play again when you probably leave Israel?
For now, I cannot say where the actual place I am going is. That is why God is the wheel driver of my life, my profession. So, I have already surrendered everything to Him. I have sights in Europe but it is God that has the fine say. Mine is just to keep doing well to the best of my ability and at the end of the day, I believe He is going to crown me with success.
How do you feel winning the 2013 AFCON?
Honestly, I don’t know how to express it but it is a very big plus for my career. There are a lot of big players like Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure and others who have never touched the trophy before. They are looking forward to such an occasion where they can win it but I won it in my very first attempt. It was God’s doing. It’s not that I am okay with winning the AFCON; I am still striving because I have got a bigger target ahead of me. There are still many championships to come.
The Eagles had a poor start but picked up after beating Ethiopia. How did you get yourselves back?
There was this oneness, unity and one accord in the camp. We believed in ourselves. For every talent, there is a purpose for it. It was God that ensured each talent from the 23 players that represented a big country like Nigeria. So there was a purpose for it and we came out victorious.
Most people had lost hope in the team when they were to play Cote d’Ivoire. How did Stephen Keshi turn around the fortunes of the team?
I must be frank, Keshi has an amazing charisma. That is why he is nicknamed the Big Boss. He has the charisma to carry people along. One thing I always picked whenever he spoke to us was, ‘Hey, except you don’t want to play; if you want to play, no one can beat you.” I was amazed at the way he identifies individual talents in the players. He and his assistants carried us along; giving us self-belief that we could achieve our dreams. When people didn’t believe in us, they did. They knew what we could offer. That is why the team never went down, we kept moving till we got what we wanted.
How did the team celebrate the win over the Ivoirians?
Yes we celebrated the victory but we had it at the back of our minds that we still had two more games to go. We were never carried away with the success we recorded over Cote d’Ivoire. The Ivoirians were the favourites, they had the biggest stars at the tournament. But after eliminating them, we didn’t see ourselves as having arrived. We still played like we were in the group stage. Keshi encouraged us. Apart from being a coach and leader of the team, he served as a father and brother to all of us. So, he never allowed the victory affect us negatively. He kept encouraging us till we won the tournament.
After being left out all through the tourney, you got a chance to play the final match when first choice Elderson Echiejile got injured. Were you jittery when you were brought in?
(Laughs) It’s funny when you asked if I was jittery. I am a professional. There is no moment of the game that I found myself scared or jittery. I am playing in Europe, I have met a lot of players and I have played against some of the best, so I am confident of myself. It’s only 11 that can start but you have 23 players representing the team. Definitely some will be on the pitch and some on the bench. Everyone can’t play at the same time. The most important part of it was actualising our goal of winning the tournament. When I was called upon to play the game, I told myself, “It is now, or never.” So I went there and proved my worth and God crowned my effort with victory. I can never be jittery because I have self-confidence and God’s support. The minutes I played, I put in my best. My club president said I just kept attacking and attacking despite my position as a left-back, but that is how I play even at my club. That is what they know me for: my attacking qualities and defensive consciousness. I am not scared of challenges.
As a relatively unknown player then, were you confident of making Keshi’s squad for the 2013 AFCON?
I am a positive person. Leaving my base in Israel for Portugal, I knew I was going to South Africa to represent my nation. I wasn’t going there to complete the numbers. I knew I could make the final 23-man squad to represent the country, with God on my side. In the AFCON qualifiers, I played virtually most games even as a home-based player. Then coming to the competition as a foreign-based player, I was sure I was going to make it.
How do you feel being left out of the team afterwards by Keshi?
I don’t have any hard feelings towards him. He is a father and brother to me. I know he has his reasons for leaving me out for now. Everything has its own time. If my time comes again, nobody is going to use it. So, I am being patient and I know I will make a return to the national team. I don’t have any bad feelings towards Keshi.
What impact do you think Keshi has brought to the team?
Keshi has a vision; that is why he began by building the team around the local players. I was once among those local players and he fetched me out. He’s got a good instinct as well and you can see how far he has taken the team.
How did the players react when he resigned after winning the AFCON in February?
We (players) felt so bad, honestly. Most of the players came in to talk with him. We were behind him.
What is your message to the Eagles in Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia in Addis Ababa?
The message I have for my colleagues is this, “You’ve got what it takes to be champions and even to beat Ethiopia again and again. But in the world of football, there are no more pushovers or underdogs. Football is beyond that now.” They should be careful and vigilant. They should go out collectively as one unit, one family and fight for each other with total enthusiasm. If we do that, I believe we are going to come out victorious over there on Sunday.
Do you think you can make the World Cup team if the Eagles qualify?
Sure, I am being positive and I am set any moment I am called upon to represent my country.
Did you set out initially to become a footballer?
I said earlier that for every talent, there is a purpose for it and football is a kind of talent deposited in me by God. That means He had plans for me to play the game. All I needed was just to work towards it. Even while I was in school, I represented Ahmadu Bello University in football. I played in West Africa University Games and our team won a gold medal. So, immediately I graduated, I told myself, “God has a purpose for giving you this football talent.” Before you know it, I am celebrating today.
You are an Agricultural Technology graduate from ABU. Was it easy combining sports and education?
Actually, it wasn’t easy. At times, I had carryovers and other problems but I kept striving and made sure that someday, somehow, I would be celebrated by my country. Combining the two is not easy but it can be done. That was what I did; I encouraged myself.
How would you compare European and Nigerian football?
We’ve got a very long way to go in our football and in our country. It’s not that these European countries have more money and resources than Nigerians but the fact remains that these people manage their resources very well. They manage the little they’ve got and you can see them growing every day. You can just imagine the population of Israel compared to Nigeria. I don’t think Israel’s population is up to people living in Kaduna State. But you can see them doing very well even in Europe. I told a colleague of mine in Israel recently that if I get my sign-on fee and salaries regularly in Nigeria, I see no reason why I should leave my people. For the past four months now, I have been out of Nigeria but if things were okay, I would be home. There’s no place like home. In my place in Israel, there is constant electricity. I stay alone in a very big apartment. At times you see me on my iPad and laptop doing nothing; just playing games. I talk to myself because I am not married yet. Sometimes I bring my mum and relatives over just to have company. But if things were done in the right way in my country, a lot of players would not be looking for greener pastures abroad. That is it; we’ve got a very long way to go in our football.
How is life as a bachelor?
It’s not easy but you don’t need to rush into marriage. If you do, you will rush out as well. I am taking my time and believing in God to choose the right woman for me. I believe it won’t be long again before I get married.
What are you doing for the society now that you are in Europe?
I have my areas of reaching out to the less privilege people in my community and Nigeria as a whole. In as God keeps opening ways for me, I will keep giving even more.
What is your advice to up-and-coming Nigerian footballers?
To break through in Nigeria, not just football alone, is very difficult. No one is going to help you until you encourage yourself. It is when make it that people recognise you. You need to keep pressing; you never give up. So you need to keep striving.