Nigeria international striker Victor Boniface has fired back at critics of his poor start to the season in Germany, where he is on loan to Werder Bremen from fellow league side Bayer Leverkusen, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Boniface is yet to find the back of the net this season. A decision poor start for the 24 year old who was voted the best young player in the league two seasons ago after helping his team to a league and cup double with an unbeaten run.
His poor start to the season has brought about huge criticism, and has also led to his exclusion from the senior national team of Nigeria by head coach Eric Chelle for their last four competitive games.
In a media roundtable yesterday he addressed his critics saying that statistics alone do not tell the full story. “If you watched our 1-0 win against Union Berlin, I didn’t score or assist, but you’d have seen what I brought to the team,” he was quoted as saying by Soccer Laduma. “When you don’t score, people always talk. But most of them don’t know anything about me.”
He insist that he isn’t bothered by public opinion. “I’ve seen things, but I’m strong. Anyone who knows me knows that. These things don’t affect me. I’m focused on improving every day,” he stated.
With reference to last season he wondered why there are talks about having a poor season after he finished as his club second highest goal scorer, despite missing around 16-20 games.
“I missed between 16 and 20 games but was still Leverkusen’s second-highest scorer, and they said it was a bad season. I’m just trying to understand what that means.” He rounded up with a salvo for his critics. “Most people don’t even watch the games. They check LiveScore, see that you didn’t score, and go on Twitter to insult you. But if you know me, you’d know I have no problem with that”.
Ade Emmanuel
