Ikechukwu Uche had refuted claims made by coach Stephen Keshi, that he had a conversation with Super Eagles secretary Dayo Enebi, over getting a South African visa, so he could make the AFCON qualifying games against Bafana Bafana.
Keshi had insisted that he will never beg the Villarreal forward to play for his country again. IK Uche has not featured for the national team since the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
“I don’t want to talk about the issue of Ikechukwu Uche again and I don’t want anybody to ask me about him again,” Keshi said this week at a media parley.
“Before [last month’s] game against Congo, I did the list. I didn’t even want to do the list because I never knew I would come back to handle the team. I told them I am not the coach that [the NFF] should do the list but they said no, I should please do the list.
“I did the list and Ikechukwu Uche’s name was on the 25 man list I did. He (Ike Uche) didn’t even know about it because I did not tell him. Uche then called me four days later and said “Coach how are you? and I said boy it is good to hear your voice.” We just spoke like brothers and that was it.
“I then told [Team] Secretary, Dayo Enebi, to ask if the players have South African visas and the ones that don’t have he should take their passports ahead of time to process their visas.The former Getafe player was quick to dismiss the ‘big boss’ claim saying he never at any point in time discussed with the Super Eagles secretary while wishing the country a victorious out against Sudan on Saturday.
However, the striker has taken to his Twitter account, to state categorically, that he never spoke to Enebi and wished Nigeria a good outing against Sudan on Saturday.
He wrote: Important to clear the air. I never spoke to the Nigeria team secretary about SA visa or demand to have a word with the coach at any time.
“We have important games against Sudan. It should be the focus of the players. I wish the team all the best in the Nations Cup qualifiers.”