By Saheed Afolabi
Super Eagles and UD Almeria forward, Sadiq Umar was in blistering form for UD Almeria last season as he scored 19 goals in 38 appearances for the the Spanish side in the 2021/2022 season.
The giant striker, who has the ability to hold on play, has great technical and dribbling skills joined UD Almeria on the 5th of October 2020 and has helped the club gain promotion back to the Spanish LaLiga.
Speaking to ECHONEWS, Umar said the ability to always believe in his self, dedication and hardwork have helped him alot in his career.
“Playing in Spain has been going so good, the best is still yet to come.
“My secret of goal scoring exploit at UD Almeria is just dedication, hardwork, always believing in myself and I try to push myself always and with the help of my teammates, we were able to achieve promotion and it has been a great season.
“Since I went to UD Almeria, the goal has been to gain promotion and we finally won the Segunda Title, which is a perfect way to finish the season.”
The lanky striker also talked about getting his first call-up to the Super Eagles, his short stint in AS Roma and how painful it is not to be at the FIFA World Cup.
“It’s a dream of every Nigerian to play in the national team and I finally I got my call-up, I will keep working hard, never relent. So it’s a dream come true for receiving my first call-up to the national team at the last nations cup.”
“You know in Italy, it’s not easy, and then, there was not much belief in young players and it wasn’t easy for me coming from the youth team without experience and I was looking for the opportunity to be playing regularly and that’s why I left AS Roma to search for more playing time.
“It’s a hard one for us as we did not qualify to the world cup, because not losing the game and not qualifying was a hard one for us. But we know, we just have to look forward in football and forget about the past, and that’s why we are back, winning our first Afcon qualifier and looking forward to the second one.
Replying to a question of where will we see Sadiq Umar in the next 5 years, he said “Well in the future, we never know but I know my best is still yet to come, I Know I can give more.”
Talking about the new coach of the Super Eagles, Umar stated that, he has a good relationship with the players.
“Jose Peseiro has good relationship with the Player and he is building a relationship in and off the pitch together with each players, the players are ready to learn from him and get his ideas, this is just the beginning and I hope together we will achieve alot.
“Well for now I don’t really broadcast the charity work I do for people, i just do my little part and keep it between me and the beneficiaries and I wish all Nigerians all the best everywhere”
