Onazi: Siasia benched me in Super Eagles despite ‘doing something for him’ 

Former Super Eagles midfielder Ogenyi Onazi has recalled that he had smooth experiences under coaches in the Super Eagles but with Samson Siasia.

Onazi, who earned 52 caps for Nigeria between 2012 and 2018 and won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa, said the only difficult period of his international career came under Siasia, whom he described as “weird”.

The ex-Lazio star, who spoke in a Bet9ja podcast on Facebook, said Siasia benched him for no justifiable reasons despite, “doing something for him” before his appointment as Eagles head coach.

He said Siasia’s era coincided with poor results, leading to his sacking.

“I don’t think I had challenges in Super Eagles, it has always been good for me in the Super Eagles. For the games I played, I think 98 percent I was starting the games,” he said.

“It was only when Samson Siasia came to the national team that I had some changes and it was only him that put me on the bench. Siasia is a kind of weird coach, I don’t know, but there are so many things surrounding him that didn’t go so well.

“At some point, someone even called me because of Siasia and some reasons and all that.

“Even without him being my coach, I did something for him, I don’t want to say it. Coming to the national team, although it’s not supposed to be that I did a favour for you, I don’t know why he put me on the bench.

“The two games we played, he lost them and they sacked him after the games. It was against Egypt, home and away. He was strange. For me personally, I don’t think I had challenges in the national team, it was always good.”