The Bundesliga resumes this weekend after the winter break with Mainz 05 visiting Ingoldstadt on Saturday amongst the fixtures starting Friday.
Super Eagles and Mainz 05 defender, Leon Balogun, has finally recovered from the ankle ligament injury that made him miss the month before the winter break.
He is back in the squad for the away trip and found time to talk with supersport.com.
Having played in the Bundesliga as a youngster with Fortuna Dusseldorf how has the big defender found his first season back there after two and half seasons away? “I have had a good one – not perfect – but I believe I have built a solid foundation but with room for improvement. I have to also say that the injury I had has affected me as I had hoped that by now I would have cemented my place in the centre of defence,” he said.
It was an injury that occurred in the emphatic home win over Wolfsburg where Balogun had starred in the centre of defence.
Leagues all over the world improve and change as the years go by and the Bundesliga cannot be different so how does Balogun see the league now compared to the last time he played there? “It depends. The teams have changed, the coaches and the football a bit faster but Bayern are still dominating with Dortmund still high up. However, we have Schalke on the way up as are Borussia Moenchengladbach,” he explained. So the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Going into the winter break Mainz are eighth on the Bundesliga table so what is the realistic target for the club come end of the season? “We are a humble team at Mainz so our first aim is to maintain our Bundesliga status but we are proud of our current position and want to make sure that no one thinks it was a fluke. Personally, I want to us to finish in a single digit position.”
Balogun is now a regular international for Nigeria, making his debut just before the last Fifa World Cup but injury denied him a place in the squad to Brazil. Like many not born in Nigeria he has discovered the passion Nigerians have for the national team. He said: “Nigerians are mad about their football. Passionate is an understatement. Being a Nigerian international is something I am very proud of and it has been an amazing experience so far.”
He made his debut during Keshi’s tenure but he believes that under Sunday Oliseh “who is a coach that is as hungry as he was as a player we will deliver for Nigerians – we just need patience and total support of all Nigerians.”
Balogun missed the last set of internationals through injury after having been one of the stars in the friendly defeat over Cameroon in Belgum. “I did not think the injury was serious and wanted to join up for the trip to Swaziland but the club doctor overruled me. He was absolutely right as I have not played since,” he disclosed.
The centre half is chomping at the bits to represent Nigeria at a tournament. “I want to win the African title with the Super Eagles. We need to be African number one again and I genuinely believe that we have the coach and the squad to do this again. We are young and perhaps inexperienced but there is talent there to do this. We will put the smile back on the faces of Nigerians again.”
The Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers resume in March with the 2018 World Cup qualifiers not too far ahead so Balogun and his Super Eagles teammates have the opportunity to put those smiles on the faces of Nigerians. Having made his debut at right-back but started his professional career at Dusseldorf at centre-back where or what is Balogun’s best position? “Centre-back,” he answered without taking a beat. “Always has.”
