Azubuike Egwuekwe is one of Coach Stephen Keshi’s dependables. He is strong, bold and industrious. His exploits in the local league with Warri Wolves have made him one of the stalwarts of the Warri based club and he is easily picked ahead of his contemporaries for national assignments.
The Confederations Cup was yet another test case for the well-travelled WarriWolves defender. As usual, Keshi named him in the squad that took on the world champions, Spain. It was a tall challenge for the young lad.
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Azubuike Egwuekwe[/caption]“I panicked, when I was introduced against Spain,” the usually tough-looking defender confessed to Vanguard Sports Xtra in Kaduna, recently.
“As a player, I had to encourage myself, saying I can do it and that was the trick that gave me the confidence.”
In the course of the match, Egwuekwe gave a good account of himself as he was able to contest favourably against the sleek Spaniards. “At the end of the match I was happy. Not because we lost but when people came to tell me ‘you played well,’ after the match, I felt encouraged.”
On the result, which the Eagles conceded three goals, Egwuekwe said he resigned himself to fate.“In any situation one finds himself, one has to give glory to God. We tried our best but we could not convert our chances.”
Despite his initial jitters, Egwuekwe said they(the Eagles) did not enter the pitch with an inferiority complex. “No, far from it. We did not go into the match with the hope to lose because we had played against most of the players in the friendly against Catalonia so we were not afraid of them.
“As we went in, I just believed anything could happen but at the end of the day we lost. There was nothing we can do.”
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