'I'll be forever grateful' - Leon Balogun reflects on Super Eagles journey following return from injury

German-born Nigerian defender Leon Balogun has expressed gratitude over his opportunity to play for the Super Eagles.

'I'll be forever grateful' - Leon Balogun reflects on Super Eagles journey following return from injury

David Ben 16:41 - 04.05.2023

German-born Nigerian defender Leon Balogun has expressed gratitude over his opportunity to play for the Super Eagles.

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun is slowly working his way back into the pitch having been ruled out of action until the end of the season.

The 34-year-old Queens Park Rangers centre-back has endured a mixed return to England but is hopeful of returning to represent Nigeria at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next year.

Leon Balogun expresses gratitude over Super Eagles journey as he recalls debut

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun
Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun

Balogun who is currently working his way back from injury recently took to social media to pen a heartfelt message expressing his gratitude having represented the Super Eagles of Nigeria since his debut in 2014.

The German-born defender took to his Instagram story on Thursday, to respond to a throwback post of himself representing Nigeria in 2015 following his full debut in Uyo.

Balogun captioned the post with a message that read: 

 ‘I can still remember this like it was yesterday. The anxiety and excitement before playing in Nigeria for the first time, making my full debut against Uganda in our beloved stadium in Uyo- and actually being in Nigeria for the first time in 2015! What an adventurous journey it has been - no matter the ups and the downs, I'll be forever grateful for the privilege of representing Naija.’

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun
Leon Balogun/via Instagram story

Balogun also embedded popular Afrobeat megastar Burna Boy's song 'Time Flies' alongside the post on his Ig story.

The former Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion star also gave fans an update on his fitness in another post on his Instagram showing himself working his way back to full fitness in the gym.

Super Eagles of Nigeria defender Leon Balogun
Leon Balogun is still recovering from injury
var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ug/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

 The 34-year-old who plays for English Championship side Queens Park Rangers has been injured since November 8 in a game against Huddersfield.

Balogun has made over 45 appearances for the Super Eagles of Nigeria after earning his first call up for the Nigeria national team in March 2014.

Related content