Mainz 05 and Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun has revealed the reason why he was in tears after Nigeria defeated Zambia 1-0 to qualify for the World Cup in Russia next year.
Balogun broke into tears after the final whistle, and had to be consoled by captain of the team John Obi Mikel and other players around him before joining them in their post match celebrations.
In an interview with Nigeria journalist Debola Adebanjo, Balogun was asked how it feels going to the World Cup at the age of 29, and the defender who missed out on a spot to the World Cup with Nigeria in 2014 due to a broken foot on his debut game said “ Better late than never that’s why I cried after the game.
“It was like, as a matter of fact I can even put it in words. I have spoken to my family, to my club and loved ones, they are like do you know what this means, I am like yes I know, but I’m not realising it.
“I think it will still take me couple of days weeks, maybe months or maybe I won’t even realise once I get to the plane to Russia, but this right now so sure after the game seems unreal to me. Wow it’s just wow
” I missed the one of 2014 because of a broken foot and then it happens now which is a childhood dreams, it’s just unbelievable”, he told her in a 15 minutes interview posted on her official twitter handle shortly after Nigeria secured passage to the World Cup with the win over Zambia.
Shedrack Obi
