{"id":821527,"date":"2025-01-21T08:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/21\/i-never-said-i-retired-rangers-leon-balogun-not-giving-up-on-super-eagles-call-up-at-36\/"},"modified":"2025-01-21T08:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T14:12:11","slug":"i-never-said-i-retired-rangers-leon-balogun-not-giving-up-on-super-eagles-call-up-at-36","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/21\/i-never-said-i-retired-rangers-leon-balogun-not-giving-up-on-super-eagles-call-up-at-36\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI never said I retired\u201d \u2013 Rangers\u2019 Leon Balogun not giving up on Super Eagles call-up at 36"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n

Super Eagles and Rangers defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun, has revealed his desire to don the Nigerian jersey in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Soccernet.ng<\/a> reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jose Peseiro didn\u2019t select the 36-year-old to be a part of the Super Eagles team at the AFCON 2023 tournament. His last game for the National Team came in Nigeria\u2019s 10-0 victory over Sao Tome and Principe in June 2022 where he came off the bench for the final nineteen minutes.<\/p>\n

Balogun didn\u2019t get a lot of games under his belt last season but has repaid faith in his manager\u2019s decision to keep him at Rangers for another year.<\/p>\n

This season, the former Brighton and Hove Albion defender has played 18 games for Philippe Clement\u2019s side, one less than he managed for the entirety of last season. He\u2019s also managed to come up with a goal and assist for the Scottish Record Champions.<\/p>\n

(L-R) Leon Balogun (NGA), Angel Di Maria (ARG), JUN 26, 2018 during the match between Nigeria 1-2 Argentina at the Saint Petersburg Stadium, Russia. [Photo Credit\/ Imago].<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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After finding his place in the Rangers starting eleven, Balogun now has his sights fixed on a place in the Super Eagles team during the next International break.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that I\u2019ve not accepted an invitation ever. Unfortunately, right before the World Cup break, I suffered an injury that was supposed to last a few weeks but didn\u2019t go the way it was supposed to. I just couldn\u2019t come I was not fit yet and after I got fit, then I relapsed but since then I haven\u2019t had a lengthy injury spell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been available. I\u2019ve never said that I retired from international football, and I think the people who need to know are aware that I\u2019m still very much willing and ambitious to represent the national team,\u201d the Germany-born defender said in an interview with Brila<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rangers opted not to sign Manchester United\u2019s Johnny Evans<\/a><\/strong> during the winter transfer window due to Balogun\u2019s wealth of experience. His experience could come in handy for the Super Eagles during the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers under Eric Chelle<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Adefolahan Guerreiro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Super Eagles and Rangers defender, Leon Aderemi Balogun, has revealed his desire to don the Nigerian jersey in the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Soccernet.ng reports. Jose Peseiro didn\u2019t select the 36-year-old to be a part of the Super Eagles team at the AFCON 2023 tournament. His last game for the National Team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":821528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4300,31,2005],"tags":[6707,5125],"class_list":{"0":"post-821527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rangers","8":"category-retired","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-rangers","11":"tag-retired"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}