Nigeria goalkeeper Dele Alampasu has revealed that not many people gave him the chance to be part of the squad to the FIFA U-17 world cup back in 2013.
Alampasu was part of the Golden Eaglets squad that won the FIFA U-17 world cup in Saudi Arabia and also went on to emerge as one of the best stars of the tournament.
Alampasu’s success with the team didn’t come on a platter of gold as he was initially dropped from the squad to the CAF U-17 African Cup hosted in Morocco, despite being one of the earliest arrivals in the camp.
Alampasu told www.Cornerstonenewsng.comthat after the Afcon disappointment, many thought he might not find his way back into the squad.
“At that point, there is nothing like anyone telling me anything, I just believe I have to work,” he said.
“I came to camp early to camp but was not pick for the nations cup, then I have to go back to my academy and continue working, so when I came back to the camp, I have to double my efforts and try to motivate myself that what happened the first time won’t repeat itself,” he told www.brila.net.
“I just want to go there and prove myself, no one motivated me and I just wanted to do my thing and later things started changing for me till we go to the world cup.”
Alampasu went on to win the Golden Glove award at the tournament, as the Golden Eaglets won their fourth U17 World Cup.
Alampasu, now 23 made his Super Eagles debut on 1 June 2017, after coming as he came in 70th minute in the Super Eagles 3–0 victory over Togo.
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