Setanta sports is reporting that Kanu has ‘rebuffed a request from Portsmouth to return to the club for treatment on his knee injury’.
Kanu is said to have injured his knee in the warm up before Nigeria’s game with the Ivory Coast but played on before finally being stretchered off, and he has now ‘apparently’ told KickOffNigeria.com that we wanted him to come back for treatment, but he has refused this. He is ‘quoted’ as saying: ‘they wanted me to come back and get treatment in England, but I cannot leave my teammates.
‘Millions of Nigerians are looking up to us to bring them happiness and I cannot leave the team.
‘I have to fight to be fit and play against Mali. And I also need to motivate the players because this is a time for all of us to be together as a team.
‘I know it would have been better for me to return to England, but I have to make the sacrifice for my country. Millions of Nigerians are looking up to us to bring them happiness and I cannot leave the team’.
It is a tough call, the African nations means a great deal to a great number of people and Kanu is such a ‘god’ among the African continent so I can see where he is coming from – however you also have to see the other side of the coin too…
The early thought was that his knee injury will rule him out of the tournament, so if this is the case as Pompey pay his wages he would also ‘owe’ is to us to return, we would have a right to want him back for an assessment as if he plays on and further damages his knee – with the suggestion being he will continue playing – who will pick up the pieces.
Berti Vogts – the Nigerian coach – is a professional, so you would like to think that if Kanu is not fit he will not play him…
As I say it is hard to know the full truth, but the kind of stories that are coming out are not at this point looking like doing Kanu too many favours, and with him already not a ‘favourite’ among many fans this will probably not help?
I do like the fella, and think that he can do things on the pitch that I have seen few do – but my own thinking is he is not being used in the right way – but if he will not return for treatment then I am not keen on this at all, despite as I say seeing where he is coming from in a way.
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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