They Called Me A Small Boy – Ndidi Speaks Out

Forum 3 years ago

They Called Me A Small Boy – Ndidi Speaks Out

Wilfred Ndidi has revealed how he overcame a barrage of intimidation en route to making Nigeria’s squad for the 2013 Fifa U20 World Cup.

Having been dropped from the Golden Eaglets’ team for the 2013 African U17 Championship staged in Morocco owing to an MRI controversy alongside Ibrahim Abdullahi and Emmanuel Asadu, Ndidi was promoted into the U20 team thanks to his superlative talent.

At that time John Obuh’s Flying Eagles were preparing for the global showpiece in Turkey, and the 16-year-old had to prove his worth to make the final list.

“When I got to the U20 team, I was seeing these guys. They were professionals who were already playing in the league. They were strong when compared to myself, a skinny boy coming from an academy to the U17’s and now to the U20’s,” Ndidi said.

“Immediately they saw me, they were like ‘Who is this small boy?’ It was just all over my face that who is this small boy. It was so tough that my roommate would sleep on the bed and I would sleep on the ground.

“I wasn’t intimidated because I knew what I was there to do and not to make friends. Everything worked in my favour because I trained with older people growing up in the barracks.

“I only started training with my age mates when I was in the Nath Academy, so I was already used to training with bigger guys so I wasn’t scared. To me, it was just normal.

“You might be stronger than me, but I won’t give you my body to overpower me.”