Glory Ogbonna: ‘I received news of my Women’s World Cup inclusion inside the bank’

By Wale Mustapha

Nigerian defender, Glory Ogbonna has disclosed how she got the news of her inclusion in the country’s roster for the FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place next month in Australia and New Zealand.

“Honestly, it’s a big one for me and my career. I got to know about the selection while in a bank,” Ogbonna told Punch.

“I hadn’t checked my social media platforms that day, but someone called me to congratulate me on making the World Cup squad. And I was like ‘is the list out?’ And he said ‘yes.’

“I had to rush and check the social media and I saw that the list was out and I made it. Honestly, it was a very big one for me, the joy was massive. And I celebrated it right inside the bank. I was very happy and I tapped the man in front of me, a big man,  and I said ‘sir, I want to share some good news with you.’

“And he said ‘what’s that?’ I said ‘look here, I made the World Cup list.’ He saw it and started celebrating with me. And then other people inside the bank joined me in celebrating.

“I was on a queue and was like ‘let this queue move fast so I can conclude my transaction and go outside to break the news to my family by calling my dad. After my transaction, I rushed outside to call my dad. When I called him he shouted ‘praise the Lord.’

“And I asked him why he was praising the Lord. He said he’s aware already I made the list, that someone showed him the list before I called. So, the joy was massive, everyone was celebrating, I could hear from the background my entire family celebrating. So, it’s a great one for me.”

The former Edo Queens’ captain talked up Super Falcons’ chances of making it out of the group stage, despite admitting it will be herculean task.

“Honestly, the tournament is not going to be easy, no group will be easy because every team passed through the qualification process before they made it to the main tournament,” she continued.

So, we just have to go there, keep our heads up, play to our coaches’ instructions and be determined. We can make something out of the tournament and even achieve better results than the previous editions we attended. This time around, we are going there to create a positive impression. That’s what I believe.”