Reluctant Oyawole puts country first

LOME (Reuters) -- Djima Oyawole was hoping to skip the Nations Cup finals to concentrate on his new club career in Belgium but having decided to heed a call from his country will be Togo's key player at the upcoming African Nations Cup finals in Mali.

The 25-year-old striker recently moved to Ghent from Metz in France and had initially expressed reservations about playing in the Nations Cup, wanting instead to cement his place in the Belgian league.

Oyawole had battled at Metz, failing to get a regular game where his individual touches did not always endear him to coach Joel Muller.

Oyawole joined Metz at the age of 15 as a junior from CS Lome the club where he started playing at the age of 12.

He was loaned out to three separate clubs -- Lorient, Troyes and Louhans-Cuisseaux -- during his time at Metz and then finally left at the end of the season in search of a revival of his career.

Oyawole, who parents originally hail from Nigeria, was born on Togo's border with Ghana and is, unusually for a Togolese, English-speaking.

His national team debut came in 1995 against Mauritania and Oyawole played in the last two Nations Cup finals for his country.

 

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