MRI can't kill my dream

One man’s meat as they say in Nigeria is another’s poison. The introduction of the MRI Scan has bought opportunities for some footballers, while for others, it has denied them a dream breakthrough. One such unlucky individual is Chinedu Udegha.

Heart-break

For Udegha, being in the Golden Eaglets squad meant a chance to live the good life he has always craved; it was an opportunity to represent his country and subsequently pursue a professional career in Europe. That dream went up in smoke on Tuesday August 25, 2009 when the Nigeria Football Association (NFF) dropped Udegha and 14 other players for failing the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test conducted on the Eaglets to determine their real ages.

I’m not a cheat

Despite his misfortune, Udegha insists he is not an age cheat. He told NEXTSports that he was born on November 26, 1992. “I’m not above seventeen. I won’t be seventeen until November,” he stated flatly. Utterly disappointed with the turn of events he asks: “Why should it be during our turn that they have now introduced this scan? It has affected not just me but all my family members who already thought I would soon be rewarded for my hard work as a footballer. He added: “I could not question the result. I had to accept it and just move on.”

How he was invited

Udegha caught the eyes of the then handler of the Golden Eaglets, Alphonsus Dike during one of the friendly matches organised between the Eaglets and his team Ranchers Bees (feeder team) in Kaduna where he grew up and resides with his parents and siblings. Dike was impressed with his game and handed him an invitation to the squad. Three coaches down the line, Udegha was still considered relevant, maintaining his position in the midfield until the MRI scan torpedoed his dream.

Mentors

Though from the eastern part of the country, Udegha has lived all his life in the Northern city of Kaduna where he has watched the likes of the Babayaro brothers, Daniel Amokachi, Garba Lawal and the Babangida brothers make waves as successful players with the dream of matching their achievement and even surpassing them sometimes in the future. The third child in a family of six where the father sustains the family as a carpenter and the mother, fruit seller, Udegha believes his dreams to make it big in football has only been slowed down not extinguished. “It would have been nice playing for the U-17 team, but with that out of the way I can still pick up my career from there and see how it goes. There are several big stars now that never had the chance of playing for their youth teams but they are still big, I see myself as one of them,” he said. Experience in camp Chinedu says it was indeed a learning process during which time he improved on his game, had the opportunity to travel to places and meet important people while making new friends along the way:

Chances of the new squad

“I still have some of my guys in the team, and I can only wish them well. I have a feeling they would still do the country proud and make names for themselves. I hope to be in the stadium to watch them play but I would still wish I was the one been watched,” he said.