By Kayode Ogundare @kaybaba99
Focused, prayerful and wise beyond his years, 19-year old Nigerian international Wilfred Oyinye Ndidi recognizes the weight of expectations of Nigerians as the Super Eagles take on the Fennecs of Algeria in a crucial 2018 World Cup qualifier in Uyo on Saturday…
Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi reckons his knowledge of newly-appointed Fennecs of Algeria coach Georges Leekens will come in handy when both teams clash file out at the breath-taking Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
ALGERIA SHOULD FEAR US
Much has been said about the fact that Algeria have Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimane at Leicester City as well as Sofiane Feghouli in West Ham but Nigeria also have Alex Iwobi at Arsenal, Kelechi Iheanacho at Manchester City, Mikel Obi at Chelsea, Ahmed Musa at Leicester and the duo of Odion Ighalo and Isaac Success at Watford. I think reputation and pedigree will count for little as it will be down to who wants it most and I’m sure we are fired up for victory.
Besides, I know the coach (Georges Leekens) while he was at Lokeren. We (my team Genk) beat his team 3-0 away in our last game against them. Though I expect his Algerian team to be stronger than Lokeren were, I still think his formation and philosophy won’t be different and I will be passing that on to the appropriate quarters.
HIS STORY
ONYINYE WILFRED NDIDI is a young man, frail of stature but full of big dreams. A near perfectionist, he’s is own worst critic, pushing himself to the borders of incredulity as he works tirelessly to get better at his trade.
For the 19-year old, 2016 is the year he wasn’t going to forget in a hurry. In just his first full season at Belgian side RKC Genk, Ndidi became a solid starter for the first team, scored four goals in the league and attracted some of Europe’s big teams’ attention.
Not done yet, he made his competitive debut for Nigeria’s senior national team, the Super Eagles in September’s AFCON qualifying game against Tanzania in Uyo. It was his fourth cap albeit the first three had been in friendly games against Congo, Cameroun and Luxembourg.
He was also an unused substitute in the World Cup qualifier double-header against Swaziland in November 2015 and also played the full 90 minutes against Zambia in Ndola last October.
IN THE BEGINNING
The story of Ndidi’s rapid rise to the top is a small miracle of its own. Three years ago, he was heartbroken as he failed to make the cut for the Golden Eaglets team that eventually went on to win the FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
When he scaled through the rigorous screening exercise which had hundreds of ambitious young boys from all over the country to make the squad which played the African qualifiers, Ndidi felt the hardest part of the job had been done. He even scored a couple of goals for the team from his central defence position.
“I played all the qualifying games. I made my debut for Nigeria against Niger and I felt fulfilled that I finally had the chance to play for Nigeria. But my most memorable game for the U-17 was against Mali in Calabar because I scored as we won 2-0. That was my first goal for Nigeria and it remains memorable even though it is at U-17 level,” Ndidi said.
HEARTBREAK
Despite this solid showing, he was dropped from the final list and watched on television as his erstwhile teammates Kelechi Iheanacho, Taiwo Awoniyi, and Captain Musa Mohammed led the class of 2013 to Nigeria’s fourth U-17 crown.
Rather than give up, the young Ndidi dusted himself up and continued working as hard as he could, hoping for his own big break. He drew on his faith in God to see him through that difficult phase of his career and was even magnanimous enough to make excuses for the coaches’ decision to cut him from the team.
“Maybe they thought I was too skinny for a central defender although that has never affected my game in any way. In fact it is my strength when strikers look at me and think they can get the better of me simply because of my size. Underrating me is a mistake but by the time these strikers find out, the game is usually over. Maybe that’s why the coaches decided to go with somebody else but I was pretty sure my time was going to come soon,” he said of that harrowing experience.
That opportunity was to come sooner than he would expect. While the U-17 team were heading to the UAE, the U-20 side was preparing for the World Cup in Turkey.
Seemingly, out of the blues, an invitation came to join the Flying Eagles. This, Ndidi surmised, can only be God’s doing. In Turkey, he was on the bench in the team’s opening game loss to Portugal but played full games against Cuba, Korea and Round of 16 conquerors Uruguay. From an U-17 reject, Ndidi had suddenly become an U-20 stalwart.
He went back home to Nath Boys, the youth club where he was discovered but foreign scouts had already taken note of his performances both at the World Cup and at the pre-competition Toulon Tournament in France.
EURO CHANCE
Soon he was on the way to Europe for trials months after returning from the World Cup. He impressed officials of RKC Genk but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded for the youngster.
Of that experience, he said: “At first I was nervous. I wanted to do well but I was scared to make mistakes. The coach noticed my anxiety and told me to relax and just play my game. I gradually got into the game and long before my trial period was up I knew I was going to get a contract. The fans had already taken to me and the foster-family I stayed with was also of huge help.”
With a contract under his belt in January 2015, Ndidi set about the task of getting into the first team. He made his debut in a 1-0 loss at Charleroi. He was to play six games for Genk until the end of the season but the coaches were sufficiently convinced that they had a gem on their hands.
2015/16 season was to be his breakthrough year for Genk but first he had to go to the U-20 World Cup again with Nigeria. He was called up to join the Flying Eagles which was preparing for the 2015 FIFA World Cup to be held in New Zealand even though he was not a part of the squad that won the African Championship in Senegal.
New Zealand was his second U-20 World Cup and Ndidi played every single game as a star-studded Flying Eagles team crashed out by a lone goal to Germany in the Round of 16 against popular expectations back home.
Ndidi was understandably distraught but philosophical about it all. He said: “It was really sad to lose that game to Germany. I felt we played well and had chances to win the game but we didn’t. We were gutted not to have lived up to the expectations of everybody but that is football for you. Life goes on.”
TELEVISION GOAL
He quickly put that behind and re-joined Genk for pre-season. As if to atone for a poor World Cup outing, Ndidi played 38 games and scored four goals for the team. However, it was his goal on April 20, 2016 against Club Brugge that set tongues wagging and forced the whole league to sit up and take notice of the leggy Nigeria.
[Watch the amazing goal here]
Ndidi describes the goal thus: “It was an amazing goal and that’s not because I scored it. I would have said the same if it was somebody else. Some people said it was a lucky goal but I just laugh and said to myself, ‘boy, what a goal.’ I followed the direction of the ball as it went wide to the right, saw the cross and the half clearance and the other guy trying to get to the ball. I stepped in ahead of him and hit the ball first time from almost 30 yards. I hit it with full force and it was gratifying to see the ball go inside the net.”
For his effort, the goal won the award for Goal of the Season and Ndidi was named second best young player of the season in just his first full season. This, he says, can only be by divine mercy and grace. The youngster is a strong Christian and this is noticeable as he talks. Everything he’s achieved he’s quick to attribute to God.
FAMILY
The first of three kids, with two sisters, Ndidi is the son of a serving military man in the Nigerian Army. He grew up at the Military Cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos and started playing football at the Command Children School before proceeding to the Nath Academy where he also played and was spotted by national team selectors.
There’s been a subtle change in his game since moving to Europe. A rugged central defender, despite his slight frame, he’s now been conscripted into defensive midfield.
He disagrees that he changed position because he moved to Europe:
“I won’t say I changed position because I moved to Europe. I’ll rather say that the more I grow in the game the more I understand football better so I can say I’m of better use in this position than in the other. I’m somebody who doesn’t run away from hardwork and I discovered that I can help the team more in a midfield position so I’ve adapted my game accordingly.”
There was a mad scramble for his signature at the end of last season with Borussia Dortmund, HSV Hamburg and even Watford which reportedly had a £6million pounds bid rejected all showing interest but Genk stood their ground, preferring to keep their prized jewel.
They also stopped him from going to the Summer Olympics with the Nigerian team. Instead, he stayed back as they battled Buducnost Podgorica from Montenegro, Cork City and Loko Zagreb in the Europa League qualifying rounds.
Ndidi has become a mainstay for the Genk midfield this season, playing as many as 17 games before the international break. He’s also scored twice in the Europa League as his modest Belgian team rub shoulders with some of Europe’s biggest names for a shot at UEFA’s second-most prized club competition.
NEW ROLE, BIGGER CHALLENGES
In stepping into the midfield, Ndidi is confronted with the prospect of battling for starting shirts with more established players like captain John Obi Mikel, Ogenyi Onazi, Nosa Igiebor and others but he’s not scared one bit. Rather, he said, he will understudy the senior players and seize his chances when they come.
“We all have our different style of play even if we all play in midfield. I believe anyone will want to prove himself if given the opportunity. I have to prove myself but just playing in the same team with these guys is enough fulfillment for me. I have a lot to learn from them.”
The season ahead already promises to be interesting for Ndidi. While not setting any personal targets for himself, “I just want to continue working hard and doing my thing”, he wants Genk to win the league.
He said: “We want to win the league but I think Gent, Brugge and Anderlecht will have something to say about that. If we don’t win the league, finishing strongly to qualify for the Champions League or Europa League will not be a bad thing.”
Asked what the Super Eagles need to do as they begin the long road to Russia 2018, the youngster mentioned three things: commitment, consistency and hardwork.
These three have brought him from relative obscurity to the edge of stardom under two years and he’s convinced they will be required in order to fly Nigeria’s flag at the World Cup in two years time.
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