Rangers forward, Cyriel Dessers admitted that it hurts not to be considered for competitive games by Nigeria.
Dessers made his Super Eagles debut in a 1-1 friendly draw against Tunisia in October 2020.
He scored his first international goal in another friendly against Algeria just days later.
In the just concluded Unity Cup in London, Dessers scored one of the goals in the 2-1 win against Ghana and provided an assist in the final against Jamaica which ended 2-2. The Super Eagles went on to win 5-4 on penalties.
He has bagged four goals in seven appearances for the three-AFCON winners – all in non-competitive matches.
“It hurts sometimes. It feels disappointing,” the forward said in an interview with ModZero Sports (via ESPN).
“I’ve been in and around the squad for five years now, and I haven’t played an official game yet – just friendlies. I am going to say that hurts.”
“There are always a lot of different factors,” he said. “You have a few strikers, for example Victor Osimhen who is the clear number one, and it always depends on form, on choices, on personal opinion.
“But I would say the two Afcons I missed out on really hurt because I felt like at that time with my form I had a place in the squad. But it’s a big country, there’s a lot of competition, we have a lot of good strikers.
“I am not making the choices, the only thing I can do is perform, score my goals at my club, show that I am ready and when called up, show what I can do for the team and how I can help the team with goals and also with hard work and dedication.”
