By Kehinde Okeowo
Rangers and Super Eagles defender, Leon Balogun, has spoken about how players hurt when they miss out on the World cup because their countries failed to qualify.
He made the revelation in an interview with ESPN, where he claimed players hurt more than fans when countries fail to qualify for the global footballing event.
The 33-year-old went further, to state that while fans attend the world cup in person, even when their countries miss out, the players can only watch from home and nurse the pain of missing out on such a spectacle.
“If it is important for you as a fan who is not on the pitch but who is dreaming of seeing us play there, what do you think it means for us who are involved on the pitch.
“You get the chance to play, and it gets stolen away from you. So you can imagine your pain [as a fan] is the pain we feel, but our pain is your pain times a hundred probably.
“You are probably still going to get opportunities to go to the World Cup, but we are going to be sidelined and watch it on TV, and that’s what hurts. So we understand [what it means],” alBalogun said
Nigeria, who topped Group C, after 4 games in the African World cup qualifier, is aiming to join Senegal’s Lions of Teranga and the Atlas Lions of Morocco, who have qualified for the second round of the competition.