Osaze Odemwinge Recants statement, Says he ll play for super eagles

Osaze Odemwingie says he remains available to play for the Super Eagles if selected by Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi.

"If the coach decides to call me, I am still available to play for my country. When I decide that I want to stop playing, I will come out and say so myself," Odemwingie told KickOffNigeria.com.

Over the weekend, Keshi was quoted as saying the West Brom forward had ruled himself out of playing for the Super Eagles following incidents dating back to the 2010 World Cup.

“I spoke to (Odemwingie) before the Liberia game and he told me that he had decided not to play for Nigeria anymore,” Keshi told SuperSport.com.

“He told me that he has no problems with me as a person and that he took his decision even before I assumed position as national team coach.

“He said he was unhappy at how he was treated in the past in the national team. He explained that prior to Nigeria’s participation at the 2010 Fifa World Cup, he played in all the qualifying games but was dropped at the finals,” said Keshi.

But Odemiwngie on Monday clarified the situation.

"I spoke with Keshi and I told him about my unhappiness with certain things in the national team, including the fact that as a player who has served his country with full commitment for over 10 years, I got into trouble for asking to be excused from a friendly game when I had an injury.

"And I pointed out to him that it appeared the same trend was continuing under him during the game in Rwanda because of the way I was treated.

"So since I didn't want to be seen to be destabilizing the national team, I decided to stay away.

"But he explained to me that the entire team played badly and if he had his way, he would have subbed out everyone. That it was nothing personal.

"We agreed that it was a communication issue and we would continue to talk, and that was it.

"I did not say I won't play for the national team. I am 31 now, it will be hard to play every game, but I had an open and honest discussion with the coach and I will be available when they call me."