OGBENE THANKS COLEMAN & CO FOR HUNGARY KNEE
Those incidents only served to reaffirm Ogbene’s deep appreciation of his skipper Seamus Coleman and team mates for their stance.
Further
The unsavoury episode also triggered the Nigerian-born star’s further sense of Irishness that has even managed to lightheartedly gloss over the fact that had his father Emmanuel opted to take up a 2005 job offer in the USA’s Sunshine State rather than Leeside then his story might have been different.
“I actually never thought about that like that,” smiles Ogbene when asked if he ever regretted his dad’s career choice when he was slogging through the rain in Cork with City’s underage sides or with Nemo Rangers.
“When you get older and you go through winter days and you’re thinking ‘Dad, what made you come here?’,” adds Ogbene with a laugh. “I guess it was the best decision that he made for his family and I’m reaping the rewards for being here.
“Ever since I’ve been in Ireland I’ve really enjoyed it and you can probably hear my Cork accent coming and going.
Contact
“The people around me and the people I grew up with are very supportive and my school keeps in contact with me and how proud I make them.
“I love the kids and how I inspire them to follow their dream because obviously where I come from I played GAA for Nemo growing up.”
Foregoing his potential with Nemo and possibly the Cork football squad didn’t come easy but he was comfortable with the choice seven years ago and still is now.
“It was a big risk. I remember with the Under-19s I had a match on the same day as the county final and we had to play UCD away and I had to make a decision.
“The manager said to me ‘I know both teams want you but you need to make a decision, you’re 18 and you can’t keep this up’.
“Obviously I’m quite an emotional person and it was a very difficult decision to ring the GAA federation and Nemo and that I wanted to follow football.
“It wasn’t an easy decision being that young and it was a great decision as I still have the support of Nemo Rangers and all the GAA crowd so it was a risk worth taking.
“A lot of GAA players stick with GAA because they don’t think football could be the way forward
“I had to make a big sacrifice at 17 to sacrifice GAA, which was a big step in my career.
“I had a lot of heated moments were people thought I wasn’t going to make it. For people to see me now I’m inspiring other kids and I take pride and joy in that.”
Becoming i the h first fi Africanfi bornplayertowearthegreen shirt at senior level was both a historic moment for the game in this country and f or I rish society.
“It was a special moment for myself and my family. I obviously had a different journey, my father had a job opportunity in 2005 to bring his family here and I grew up in Ireland in County Cork.
System
“I learned the culture, integrated with the system. Stephen Kenny actually wanted me to declare for Ireland. I showed interest and