Emmanuel Olisadebe No Regrets Dumping Nigeria for Poland

.Says Nigeria has lost her football identity

While Nigeria presented a dilapidated team in the 2002 World Cup after the likes of Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and others pulled out of the team, and failed to register a goal at the tournament, Poland were playing in the Japan/Korea Mundial for the first time since they last qualified in 1986. Propelling the Polish team was a young Nigerian striker, Emmanuel Olisadebe, whose eight goals in 10 matches helped the team qualify for the competition and was on target for the Eastern European country against USA. Kunle Adewale caught up with the former striker of Jasper United FC of Onitsha, and he explained why he opted to don the colours of Poland against Nigeria, gave his opinion why the Super Eagles are struggling inspite of the array of talents in their midst and other salient issues concerning Nigerian football   

For those who were familiar with the Nigerian League in the ‘90’s, Emmanuel Olisadebe was already becoming a household name while playing for Onitsha-based Jasper United before taking his football trade to Poland and signed for Polish top flight club, Polonia Warsaw in 1997.

At Polonia, he helped the club win Ekstraklasa Title, Ekstraklasa Cup and Polish SuperCup. After meeting the residency requirements, Olisadebe became a Polish national in 2000 making him available for selection for Poland’s national football team. He was subsequently called up to the national team and in the process became the first black player to represent Poland. His eight goals in 10 qualification matches helped coach Jerzy Engel’s team reach the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals jointly hosted by Korea and Japan, the first by Poland since 1986.

Asked what informed his decision for opting to play for Poland rather than his fatherland, Nigeria, he said, “It was a very difficult decision for me to take, but it was one decision I never regretted taking. It was a great feeling playing for Poland at the World Cup, it’s every player’s dream to play at the world stage, so when I had the opportunity, I decided to take it and I never regretted it.

“Deciding to play for Poland was a split decision. I was contacted if I would like to play for Poland. Initially, I thought it was a joke, but when I realised they were serious about it, I said yes.  I was then asked if I had starred for Nigeria before and I told them no and, after carrying out their investigation, I was given the go ahead and at that point there was no going back.”

While for most players, such decision as changing nationality usually involved the family, but for Olisadebe, his parents had no input in his decision to play for Poland against his country of birth. “My parents were not involved in any decision I took concerning playing for Poland,” he said.

For the former striker of Jasper United of Onitsha, playing in the World Cup remains his best moment in football. “Playing in the World Cup would always be the best moment for me because every player aspires to go to the World Cup because that is the highest level of football. It would always be up there for me.”

On if he could have equally achieved his dream of playing in the World Cup if he had not changed nationality, Olisadebe reacted thus: “I don’t know. I had a teammate (Ifeanyi Ekwueme), whom I played with in Poland but featured for the Super Eagles. Maybe if I had been a little bit patient and did my homework and considering the Nigerian factor maybe I would have played (laughter).

If there is one match Olisadebe cannot forget in a hurry in the colours of Poland, it was his World Cup qualifier match against Ukraine that featured the likes of Andriy Shevchenko and his two goals gave Poland a good start to the World Cup proper. “Before the match there were a lot of criticism as to why a black guy should be featuring for Poland but after my brilliant performance in my first game, there was a rethink among the fans and from then it was a smooth ride,” he noted.

It was not indeed all Eldorado for Olisadebe while in Poland as he suffered racism from fans. “I suffered a lot of racism to the extent that prosecutors were asking me to take some clubs to court which I refused, because I was raised to be proud of myself. Where I am from in Delta State, we don’t feel anybody is superior to us. So, I was not bothered about their racist comments because I was the one earning the money, they are paying to watch me. Though it bothered me initially, but after some time I realised they’re doing it to sway me off my game so that I won’t play well,” he said. 

As a product of grassroots football, Olisadebe believes the best way to develop Nigerian football is through grassroots. “I played grassroots football, most of the present internationals played grassroots football; so grassroots football can never stop growing and I believe it’s the best avenue to find future stars for Nigerian football,” Olisadebe expressed.

Recently, the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has been trying to lure Anglo-Nigerian Arsenal teenage sensational, Ethan Nwaneri, to play for Nigeria and the question was put to Olisadebe on whether poaching Nigerians of European descent is the best way to go about building a solid national team or is developing talents at the grassroots the best way forward.

“I think it boils down to the players themselves. Coming from a situation like that is just a matter of choice. I was faced with the choice of playing between Nigeria and Poland and I decided to play for the latter. The player has to look deep, find out what is best for him. If he feels playing for England is the best for him, then fine. But we all know how the English do; they might just dump him after playing one game. It’s a very difficult decision to make but I hope he makes the right one,” the former Poland Footballer of the Year said.

Despite the array of stars making waves in Europe the Super Eagles is fifth on the six-team log of the 2026 World Cup qualifier group. For Olisadebe, it boils down to where football is moving towards. “The Nigerian football, for me now, does not have an identity. We try to play very efficient football like the Europeans and it’s sad to watch a 90-minute game and it’s all about passes and passes. Nigerian football is noted for its wing play. Nigerians want to see good wingers. Most of Nigerian best attackers are wingers. We should therefore return to our traditional wing play because it’s affecting our football. Maybe having an African coach for the Super Eagles now, can return the country’s football to the traditional wing play we are noted for,” Olisadebe expressed.

With Nigeria’s next two World Cup qualifier matches slated for next month (against Rwanda March 17 and against Zimbabwe March 24), Olisadebe is not too optimistic that the country’s flag would be hoisted in the Mundial. “If I have to be sincere, I think it’s a very uphill task for us to qualify. We can only hope that the players from henceforth win all their matches and qualify for the World Cup,” an obviously pessimist 46-year-old said.

Reacting to why many of the country’s ex-internationals are not into administration of Nigeria’s football, the 25-cap Poland international, said it all boils down to Nigerian politics. “In my own opinion a lot of politics in involved in our country. If you look at most European countries, the ex-footballers are always involved in the affairs of football. Like in Poland, the FA Chairman is an ex-footballer and Nigeria should be following that route. However, here in Nigeria some of the administrative officers are being appointed from the top. But I hope we can do better by involving the ex-players to help in the administrative work,” he opined.