A former coach of the Nigeria U17 team has explained why Crystal Palace New signing Malcolm Ebiowei was dropped from the Nigeria U17 camp in 2019.
OwnGoalNigeria last week reported how the 18 year old was humiliated in the camp of the Nigerian team ahead of the U17 World Cup as told by his uncle who brought him to the camp.
Ebiowei who was then at Arsenal was after a while deemed not good enough but that was after he was subjected to several unfair treatments like doubts over if he is indeed an Arsenal player. He was also asked to cut his hair with one of the coaches saying he is too lazy.
From then to now he has grown into a player in the English top division largely due to his impressive display for Derby County last season in the English Championship. He signed a five year deal with Crystal Palace on a free transfer from Derby County.
Explaining their own side of the story, a coach who was a part of the team back then explained that like several other players who came from abroad, he failed to adjust to the culture, weather and also physical demands.
” Malcolm like several others who came from abroad needed time to settle down to be able to battle the culture shock, physical demands and also the weather. He was off the pace and that is supposed to be understandable. We could see the talent in him but we didn’t have time as the World Cup was close”, he told OwnGoalNigeria.
” He played in like three test games and didn’t do badly but they were others who did really well. It wasn’t a case of unfair treatment as said by his uncle. It’s more like a learning curve which has made him a better player now. I am particularly excited for him”, he concluded.
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