Yobo Plans To Play Until 2018

[Louis]

http://nationscup.mtnfootball.com/live/content.php?Item_ID=33053

 

Nigeria's Super Eagles skipper Joseph Yobo has told MTNFootball.com that he plans to play till 2018 even amid calls from a section of the public that he is already too old for the national team.

 

Yobo, 29, featured for Nigeria at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups and now by his estimation, it could well mean he still has two more World Cups in him.

 

"What my manager told me is that I could still play for another seven, eight years. It is all about me looking after myself," Yobo told MTNFootball.com. "You know that I started playing for the national team early. I am fortunate and thank my God that when I made my debut I kept my place in the Super Eagles.

 

"I can understand if they say I have been there for long or I have been there for quite sometime, I will understand. But if you say I am old, then I will start wondering because I don't know the meaning of being old.

 

"I don't know what they are talking about being old or not being old. They should look in the mirror to know whether somebody is old or not.

 

"In football things happen very fast. In other national teams you will see players who are well past 30 and they are still playing. I think it all depends on who you bring on the table.

 

"Like I said, there are two different things - Yobo is playing in the national team for quite some time, but if you say Yobo is old, I disagree with this."

 

The central defender, who has featured for several other European clubs like Olympique Marseille and Standard Liege, said he is only getting to the peak of his career.

 

"I am getting to my peak now. Apart from last season that I was injured and it was a difficult season for me, I don't think I have lost anything. It is just for me to be fit and if I am fit people are going to see the best of me," offered Yobo, who has joined Turkish giants Fenerbahce on a season-long loan deal from Everton.

 

"I don't know the feelings of people thinking that players are too old. They are two different things because you always need experienced players to guide the younger ones.

 

"We can understand it that because the national team have not been doing well recently, but you can't just generalise. I think it has come to a point where people have to stand up for themselves when they want to play for the national team."