African players don’t replicate their club form at home

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African players don’t replicate their club form at home – Regha

By Daily Sports Nigeria on March 30, 2024

Controversial social media influencer, Daniel Regha, talks about his love for football and MMA in this interview with ABIODUN ADEWALE

It’s good to see you around to show support for the African Knockout MMA championship. What do you make of the set up here compared to what you have watched on the screen?

The set up is up to standard from what I have seen online. This is the first time I’m watching MMA live so I have a lot of expectations. And I’m also enjoying it. From the face-offs I saw, I knew it was going to be intense and I was looking forward to the fight of Segun Ogunnoiki since he talked so big and tried to intimidate me with his height. So, I will watch him and see how he performs. If he loses, that means my bet was right and if he wins, I will call it a lucky win.

Do you think Segun took you on because he knows you for your controversial character on social media?

Yes, he knows me from social media because I called him out a certain time when he tried to brag about a fight. So, I told him he flew across the ring all through the fight. His opponent clearly outsmarted him and outfought him. So, I’m looking forward to how he performs so I can rub it on his face again.

How popular do you think MMA is in Nigeria and how can influencers like you grow it?

I know we are all familiar with a bit of kick boxing because of Kamaru Usman the Nigerian Nightmare and Israel Adesanya the Style Bender. A lot of people also know about boxing from time and we follow Anthony Joshua like a religion. So, I’m going to bring one or two persons to also come see the MA live in Lagos so they can have the experience. For me, I also want to learn some free moves, in case something happens to me, you have to prepare for anything possible you know. Imagine someone like Segun coming to me, I will be able to pull some stunt and defend myself with some uppercuts and find my way.

During the 2023 AFCON, you had some takes about the Super Eagles even when the entire country seems to be hailing them. How disappointed were you in their performance leading up to the final?

I was so disappointed because we had one of the best teams and I thought we could have easily got to the final without depending on some lucky penalties and one shot on target in some games. I also feel like African players don’t put in the same determination they put in for their respective clubs. I was very disappointed because if we had played bigger teams like Senegal, Morocco or even Ghana; I said Ghana because they put up a fight and you know the way they can be against Nigeria. So, I think we reached the finals because we didn’t face any of these strong opponents in the knockouts.

So, did losing the final affirm your stance?

We were lucky to get to the final and we didn’t put in that effort we were supposed to put in. Certainly, Ivory Coast deserved to win. That’s why in MMA, I want our fighters to beat the Ivorians they will face in the African Knockout. I want us to regain some of those bragging rights so that when they say we beat you in the AFCON final, I will also remind them they lost in the MMA.

We played in a different way at the AFCON, how did you see that?

It’s the major reason I said the players didn’t give the same level as their club and I think it’s down to the coaching. The coach didn’t really impress during the tournament.

Personally, did you ever do sports while growing up?

I kind of played football but not the serious type of football. It was street football and I was usually a goalkeeper because I couldn’t run and couldn’t tackle. And even in the goalkeeping task, the ball will still go past me. When the ball comes to the left, I go to the right. But yes, I love football among every other sports and I’m passionate about sports in general. It’s not just my calling that’s why I don’t do it.

How about during leisure these days, do you unwind with sports?

I really don’t have leisure time with the current state of the economy. There are so many things to think about. The highest kind of workout I do is trekking. But I play a lot of indoor games, the types that can challenge my thinking and vocabulary. Like who wants to be a millionaire and to keep my mind fully active, I used to play card, ludo and scrabble sometimes.

Source Punch Ng

Posted March 30, 2024