Nigeria international forward Sadiq Umar is grateful for how his experience in other leagues of Europe has helped him excel in the LaLiga SmartBank.
Umar and his teammates at UD Almeria need just one point from Sunday’s game at Leganes to seal a return to the topflight and after another successful season during which the much travelled forward has scored seventeen league goals in the LaLiga Segunda division.
At an online press conference coordinated by LaLiga and held recently, Umar was asked by ACLSports Chief Football Writer, Fisayo Dairo the effect of his experience on his current form in Spain and the lanky forward did not mince words.
“I’ve been around in different countries and it has not been an easy run for me. I had a lot of good experience and bad experience and they helped me, even the bad experience helped me more than the good ones because I learnt from the bad experience.
“That’s why when I came here (to Spain) they helped me to adapt quickly to Spanish football which I’m enjoying right now and everywhere I went to has not been easy but at the end of the day, I find myself always ready to learn and that’s where I am,” said the former AS Roma star.
In their bid to return to the LaLiga Santander last season, Almeria fell off at the Playoff stage but they can go one step better this time if they get the required result away to Leganes who will be parading Umar’s international teammate Kenneth Omeruo.
Umar, 25, an Olympics medallist in 2016 will look back at a difficult period in January when he was away with the Nigerian team at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon. Almeria lost four out of five league games in that period.
“When I was in Cameroon, I was following my team game by game. It was a tough time and even for me because I was in Cameroon, not playing and looking at my team losing in bad moments,” Sadiq reflected.
“I know the team can do well with or without me but it was bad for me at that point. I’m happy that we were able to pass through that moment and you can see we recovered a lot of points with just one more point for us and we are ready to give our lives to get it,” he concluded.
Sadiq Umar who has scored thirty-seven league goals in his two seasons at UD Almeria pulled out of Nigeria’s friendly games in the United States starting from this weekend due to the final league game of the season on Sunday. Umar could be worth a few bets 22bet bonus next season.
