Former Reading star Akpan on why Super Eagles debut was best moment of his career
Former Reading star Akpan on why Super Eagles debut was best moment of his career
Despite only featuring in a few games, the 28-year-old is delighted with his opportunity to play for the Super Eagles
Former Reading and Blackburn Rovers midfielder Hope Akpan has picked his Super Eagles debut as one of the highlights of his career.
The 28-year-old, born to Nigerian parents, pledged his allegiance to represent the Nigeria national team in 2013 and was subsequently handed his first call-up in October 2014 by coach Stephen Keshi.
The former Everton midfielder then made his debut for the Super Eagles against Sudan in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game in Uyo and played for the duration of the game.
Akpan, who has four caps for Nigeria, recollected the show of love he received from his family members and the local government during and after the game, revealing he never regretted playing for the African giants.
“For me, it was one of the proudest moments of my career, it’s not often that you get to play for your country – the country of your parents, the country of your heritage,” Akpan said on Instagram Live.
“It was massive for me and I really enjoyed playing for the national team, although it wasn’t as many games as I wanted to play.
“Just the experience alone, I’ll be able to hold that as the amazing part of my career and I am really thankful that I got the opportunity to go to Nigeria and play in some beautiful games.
“My best moment in football obviously was my debut for Nigeria, it was a home game, it was in the state where my father is from, in Uyo.
“It was massive being called Akpan and playing in Uyo. I got a lot of love from family members and people around the local government. It was really, really an inspiring moment.”
Akpan started his professional football career at Everton’s youth setup at the age of eight but did not play for the senior team owing to stiff competition for places.
The midfielder then joined Crawley Town in 2011 before moving to Reading and also featured for Blackburn Rovers and Burton Albion.
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Last season he captained Bradford City and played 28 times but his efforts were not enough to prevent Stuart McCall’s men from being relegated to League Two.
Akpan is now a free agent after he parted ways with Bradford last month following the expiration of his contract.
The 28-year-old last featured for Nigeria against Uganda in 2015 and will hope to secure a new club for a possible return to the Super Eagles.