Former Manchester City defender, Nedum Onuoha has admitted he regrets not representing Nigeria at international level during his playing career.
Onuoha revealed that his decision was heavily influenced by club commitments and concerns about losing his place at City, particularly during a transitional period at the club.
He explained that the arrival of Roberto Mancini and the competition for places made him hesitant to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations.
“During my career, there are a lot of things I look back on and wish I had done differently, even though at the moment it made perfect sense to me.
“Coming through Manchester City academy and being a City supporter, nothing was more important to me than playing for Manchester City.
“This was the time when Mancini had just come in. I had played the last game of the season under the previous manager. Mancini came in and there was going to be an AFCON coming up. The manager got in contact with me and said he wanted me to come down to it (play for Nigeria).
“I am very much Nigerian and it’s home to me. If I am in a room with people from Nigeria, I feel like I know every single one of them that’s just how it is for me.
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“The culture is fantastic; that’s my family. But from a football standpoint, I remember thinking I am currently not playing at Manchester City and I am going to go away for six weeks in January. When I come back, I don’t think I will have anything. People said no, you are going for a short window, but as I retired, I regret not playing international football. I thought about the chance to do it for Nigeria and how much it would have meant to people like me.”
The former defender featured for several clubs in the United Kingdom, including Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers, before spending the final two years of his career with Real Salt Lake in the United States.
Onuoha, whose professional career spanned from 2004 to 2020, earned one cap for England U20 and two for England U21 but never made a senior international appearance.
