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Super Eagles midfielder Mikel Ndubuisi Agu has struggled to tie down a regular spot in the Nigeria national team despite impressing on the few occasions he’s tasted action, but the 26-year old who’s doing fantastically well with his Portuguese Primeira Liga side Vitoria Guimaraes reckons that time is not yet ripe for a sustained run in the Eagles for him.
In an exclusive interview with Complete Sports from Portugal, Agu insists he will keep working hard for his club and let his performance continue to speak for him.
Agu said: “I have done everything on my own part to settle in the national team, but yet I get ignored sometimes, I know my time is yet to come with the national team, I just want to make one thing clear. In the games that I have played in, my comfortable position as a holding-4, one was against Togo in Paris and the other was against Uganda in Asaba, I was one of the outstanding players in both games.
“I think the only game in which I didn’t play well was against Zambia in Uyo and that was because I had an off-day which is normal with every player. You can’t be 100 per cent everyday. So if I get to play in my natural position, then I know I will always give my best every time I’m on the pitch. I will continue to do my thing here in my club.”
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Agu is one of the first names on the roster at Vitoria Guimaraes and The Conquerors have started strongly this season with three wins and a draw from their first six games. Agu credits the team spirit and reckons they can still do better.
“First of all, I will always put God first. Vitoria Guimaraes, like everyone around Europe knows, is top five best in the Portuguese league, so this is the position we deserve to always be in the league. We are still building our team, we have a lot of new players, almost 15 new players, so I believe our best is even yet to come,” he said.
Vitoria snapped up Portugal international Ricardo Quaresma and the 33-year has made an immediate impact at the Estadio Afonso Henriques and Agu is of the opinion that the former Chelsea man has brought a positive influence to the team.
Quaresma is an integral part of the team. What does he bring to the team with his vast experiences?
Agu: “His (Quaresma’s) presence has helped to bring brightness to the team and also to the club. As you know, he’s a very big person in football worldwide, so joining Vitória Guimaraes is a big positive to the team, and even in games he has been very effective also. Off the pitch, he’s very friendly and relates well with everyone in the team despite his big name.”
Formerly on the books of FC Porto, Agu has had an itinerant career moving to Club Brugge in Belgium and Bursaspor in Turkey alongside two stints at Vitoria Setubal in Portugal all on loan deals but he now appears to have found a home at Vitoria.
“Yes, yes, yes! Vitoria Guimaraes is my perfect home now, I’m very happy with the way everything is in shape now because it was too stressful changing from one club to another from one country to the next. The lack of stability really affected my game but I’m settled now.”
Though Agu has been overlooked for the games against Sierra Leone, nevertheless he wishes the team victory and maximum points in the two-legged encounter.
“I’m a Nigerian, first and foremost, so I will always support the Super Eagles whether I’m in the team or not. I know I will be back soon so I wish them best of luck,” he concluded.
By Kayode Ogundare
16 Comments
That dream has tirelessly being running 24hrs non stop. Wake up and make it a reality on the pitch broda man.
Great attitude! Unfortunately, the performance on the pitch has not been good enough.
With hard work, you will become a better player. Even if SE doesn’t work out, you can still enjoy your pro career, playing the best football you can manage!
He has a point ..the game against Uganda he did well..I can’t judge him because he hasn’t been played in his preferred position and hasn’t had enough playing time to judge.most of his appearance has been a cameo.But then space no go dey again very soon once the switch of ejarie is completed.
come to England or spain come brush your game
you say ejaria? we’re still talking about frank onyeka reaching his potential. if that happens with kelechi nwakali having regular play at Spain then the difficulty for agu in gaining SE shirt will increase. remember we still have azubuike, tijani, alhassan Ibrahim, etc
I wish God’s grace to Mikel Agu!
Yes ejaria..he is a class above the aforementioned names..Frank onyeka? I have my reservations about him.He doesn’t look a National team material. But then I am an apostle of “See Finish” before conclusion.. Azubuike? A great talent no doubt but this age is not in his side(someone that once captained bayelsa utd)..Tijani? A good prospect that has shown promises but with the trajectory of most of our most hoped youth stars being inconspicuous when we expect them to shine, I fear but i whish him the best.Alhassan Ibrahim? No Space..
Azubuike Okechukwu was 16 years old when he captained the Bayelsa United team.
Eii…! And e nor enter Guinness book of world records…??? Lolz. Na for naija league 16 year old dey win league top scorer….Very dysfunctional league LMAO.
LMAO!!!! No he captained them at 12 no be only 16.LMAO
.that guy wey em face don chop oil finish.. To be frank with you that guy is no less than 36 years..
the funny thing is that you can make a starting 11 with the players not called. for example this is my own list (442)
yakubu
shehu Abdullahi – Mikel Agu – efe Ambrose – brian idowu
anthony nwakweam – azeez – tijani – olayinka
desser – simy
speaking about ejaria, what if eberechi eze decides to play for super eagles? Mikel Agu has a lot to prove, especially when he is playing in the same position as ndidi.
The SE midfield currently includes the likes of Iwobi, Aribo, Etebo, and Ndidi. Ejaria will soon be joining them. We are looking at Michael Olise. There are others like Man City’s Felix Nmecha, and QPR’s Luke Amos. And there is the lad Dr Drey mentioned recently, Fred Onyedinma. I didn’t know him, so I looked him up. I had no choice but to add him to the selection pool after I saw his highlights. The boy is a baller.
Then there is the young Tijani who showed some promise in our last friendlies.
That’s 10 midfielders potentially available in the near future to compete for places with Mikel Agu. And there are likely other names I have not mentioned!
The challenge ahead for Agu is clear to see. He has a lot of work to do!
It’s tough for the players as individuals, but it’s a wonderful scenario for Rohr and SE fans to have so much quality available!
@Pompei… Very correct. Fred Onyedinma has what it takes. NFF spiked interest on him once and went cold again.
Men, they need to RESPIKE that interest. I don form new English for Onyedinma matter 🙂 🙂 🙂
… I see am so at Pompeo!
Fred onyedima’s role is currently threatening by another Nigerian on loan from Everton Dennis Adeniran at Wycombe wanderers. Sometimes the coach do push him to the wing in the process. I doubt if Rohr will want to pick a player from such club Now.
…he started as a winger though and currently back playing the role(left or right wing)