Ighalo had a tournament to forget for Nigeria with many blaming him for the missed chances in Nigeria’s 1-2 loss to Argentina which sent them crashing out of the World Cup at the group stage.
He has since recovered from that set back and presently leads the top scorers race in the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers with six goals to his name with all of his goals coming in Nigeria’s last three games. He scored five times in two games against Libya including a hattrick in the first game at home.
Now the toast of fans of the senior national team of Nigeria, the forward could have easily quit the national team after receiving death threats following his performance at the World Cup with fans also targeting his wife and children.
In an explosive interview with respected Nigerian journalist Colin Udon, Ighalo bares it all on the insults, threats and abuse he endured with his family that almost made him quit the national team before a phone call from coach Gernot Rohr convinced him to have a change of heart.
Below is an excerpt from the interview published on KweseESPN.
“I know the fans want me to score goals. I understand them,” the China-based striker said. “But some of them took it to another level.