Super Eagles interim boss, Augustine Eguavoen, has spoken about trying to convince ex-Aston Villa striker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, to play for Nigeria.
He revealed that Agbonlahor snubbed him in 2006, during his (Eguavoen) first stint as interim boss of the national team.
Agbonlahor, who was born in Birmingham, was eligible to wear the colours of the Super Eagles as well as England and Scotland.
Eguavoen said he had travelled all the way to Villa Park in Birmingham to talk to the player on the possibility of representing his fatherland but the player looked the other way, without speaking much, not even seeing him.
Agbonlahor went on to play only once for England and that was their World Cup qualifying match against Belarus in October 2009.
“When Agbonlahor was in Aston Villa, I went to England, I tried to reach him on the phone before going to Villa because it’s not a place you just go to, Aston Villa Stadium in Birmingham, and start looking for a player,” Eguavoen said to Elegbete TV Sports, where he also spoke on many other issues concerning the Super Eagles.
Eguavoen, who took the Super Eagles to the last Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where the team crashed out in the last 16 to Tunisia, said he was asked why he wanted to see Agbonlahor, and after explaining himself to the club’s officials, they said, “okay they’ll get back to me.
“They got back to me only to say Agbonlahor is not ready to see anybody at this point in time, maybe some other time.”
He said this insisting that it was always embarrassing inviting players to the national team without first of all informing them.
“Take for example you invite Agbonlahor from Aston Villa, you’d look stupid if he doesn’t show up, so you must engage people first, discuss and find out if it’s something they want to get into or not,” he added.
