Injury robbed Apam of a great career – Lloris
He was soo good that he made Ribery switch wings
France and Tottenham goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris has told an amazing story about Nigerian defender Onyekachi Apam who impressed him during their time together in France.
Onyekachi Akpan who was a member of the Flying Eagles team that lost the FIFA World Youth Championship to Lionel Messi’s Argentina in 2005 joined Nice after the tournament.
Akpan, a versatile defender, could play in the central, and flanks, and was a good tackler and good with the ball on his feet.
The Nigerian played alongside Hugo Lloris in the French Ligue at Nice and the Tottenham goalkeeper in an interview with supersport named Apam as one of the best African players he played with but injuries denied him of a great career.
“I played with many African players and it’s difficult to pick one. I remember the first one who really impressed me was … maybe you don’t know him, Onyekachi Apam,” he told Supersport.
“He’s Nigerian and I played with him in Nice and he was just impressive. He was a centre back and by that time he played.
“The first game he played was on the left side. He played left back, we played Marseille at home, and at that time Ribery played on the right, and at the end of the game, he had to change his side because he could not beat him 1 v 1.
“And unfortunately, he had bad injuries and he could not follow the rhythm of professional football, unfortunately for him. He was really talented.”
Onyekachi Apam was really blessed with everything a defender needs to be successful but injuries didn’t allow him to fulfill his massive potential.
Apam played for Nice, Rennes, and joined Seattle Sounders FC in 2014 but never played a game for the MLS club as injury did him dirty.
