‘It’s not about the money’ – Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene laments Nigeria’s World Cup omission

Ngozi Okobi has lamented her exemption from Nigeria 23-player squad at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup is the biggest ever, with the Super Falcons players set to recieve $60,000 for reaching the Round of 16, and the Levante Las Planas midfielder missed out on this financial reward due to her omission.

Despite her absence, the nine-time African champions took the world by surprise, qualifying from the group stage undefeated at the expense of Olympic champions Canada and also defeated co-hosts Australia 3-2, before bowing out to England in the round of 16 after losing 4-2 on penalties.

Reacting to her omission, the 29-year-old insisted that it is not about money for her as she is more passionate about achieving greatness with the team.

“Football is not about money for me.  When I heard about the money about a month before our list was released, the first thing that came to my mind was that it’s an opportunity for most of the old players who are retiring from the team because we’ve never collected such an amount of money in the history,” Okobi said on XSpaces with Osasu Obiayiuwana.

“Sadly, I was not part of the group, but whatever has been lost now can be achieved in the future. I couldn’t watch the first game live, because I felt very bad. It was very difficult for me, but when I saw the second game, it broke me because I thought I should have been there.

“After the game against Australia, I felt okay, because the players didn’t offend me. I have people I call best friends in this team, and I also have people who are looking up to me to advise them.  So, I had to keep watching so I can give feedback to these people and the younger girls.”