Sam Sodje has revealed that he regretted not playing enough games for the Super Eagles of Nigeria before his retirement from football.
Born in England to Nigerian parents, Sodje decided to represent Nigeria at the international level and In November 2005, he made his debut for Nigeria in a 3–0 friendly defeat to Romania in Bucharest, playing the full 90 minutes.
Sodje also started and lasted 90 minutes in Nigeria’s friendlies against the Republic of Ireland and France in 2009.
Nigeria’s Efetobore Sodje (Photo by Matthew Ashton/EMPICS via Getty Images)
Sodje made his competitive debut for the Super Eagles in June 2009, starting in a 3–0 CAF Third Round 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Kenya in June 2009.
However, reoccurring knee injury stopped him from making further appearances for the three time African champions.
“I was unlucky not to play more because I was always injured and I couldn’t come for a lot of games, but the few time that I played, I think I really did well, but the only regret I had is that Nigeria fans really didn’t watch me play much longer, because ability-wise, I should have played more,” Sodje told brila.net.
He added that despite his struggle with injuries, he’s happy to fulfill his childhood dream of playing for Nigeria.
” My dream was to play a game for Nigeria and I was lucky to play more and am proud of that,” he said.
Sodje spent almost his entire career playing in his country of birth, England, He played for Stevenage Borough, Reading, West Bromwich Albion, Watford, Leeds United.
He also had a brief spell with Skoda Xhanthi.
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