FIFA WWC: Onome Ebi reveals she is not quitting football soon amidst criticisms

Captain of the Nigeria senior women’s national team, Onome Ebi has insisted that she is not ready to quit international football despite her age.

The seven-time African Women’s Cup of Nations (WAFCON) participant will clock 40 on May 8 and is expected to lead the Super Falcons to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia.

Nigeria have been seeded to play co-hosts Australia, Canada, and the Republic of Ireland in the group stage and some fans feel she should be left out of the squad to give room for young and fresh blood owing to her age.

Ebi was the oldest player at the 2022 WAFCON is just a few games shy of a century of appearances for Nigeria and has been in five World Cup tournaments, making her the first African [male or female] player to do so.

The veteran center-back doesn’t feel she has aged and is fully capable of playing additional games in Nigeria colours.

“Honestly, I don’t know how I feel like this! I honestly don’t understand why I don’t feel the age thing,” Ebi told Beats and Rhymesfc.

“If you see me and the way I play, you would never believe I’m that age. I look at myself in the mirror sometimes and I say to myself, ‘What am I doing differently that’s making me still be this fit?!’

“I don’t feel it, that’s the thing. When I’m home, and I’m on break, I train with the guys, so the way I match with them, it’s unbelievable to me sometimes.

“I ask myself, ‘Is this you? Are you even aging at all?’ I know, yeah, there will be a time that I must quit this game, I must retire, but when I don’t feel it, when I feel so fresh, I feel like I want to train every day.

“I don’t see any reason (to stop) unless I make that decision myself. All my life playing, I’ve never been a reserve player, I’ve never been on the bench, and that should show people that ‘this lady is giving something, that’s why they’re using her.’

“If I start feeling, ‘Okay, it’s time to step down,’ I will make that decision myself because I don’t want to get to a stage where young ones start messing me up on the pitch. I feel okay right now, so…we’ll see!”