Chippa United goalkeeper coach Sean Louw has revealed that Stanley Nwabali owes him a Mercedes Benz after he told the Nigerian keeper that he will play in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
Louw was telling the story of how much he predicted Nwabali’s meteoric rise who didn’t believe he could play for the Super Eagles in a big tournament. Speaking to IDiski Times senior writer Velile Mnyandu in edition 157 of the newspaper, Nwabali had only featured once for his country in a friendly in 2021 prior to his heroic performance at the 2023 AFCON for Nigeria.
The 27-year-old become one of the key players in Jose Paseiro’s side that finished as runner-ups in Ivory Coast earlier this year. Louw also explained how he told Paseiro to have faith in Nwabali.
- ALSO READ: Nwabali’s Come-And-Get-Me Plea At The Highest Bidder
- Mammila Reacts To Nwabali Award Omission
“He [Peseiro] said ‘if you make one mistake you are under siege’. I said ‘No, not the arrogant, not the big boy Stanley that I know, not this one,” Louw told iDiski Times.
“This one is going to make you proud. Coach Jose said to me ‘I’m a young boy’ but I speak like someone who knows what he is doing and I challenged him to back that up with action.
“The event even came when Stanley started the first game he played all the games in the AFCON and now he’s in the books [shortlist] of Steven Gerrard, he’s in the books of QPR, he’s in the books of many teams.
“I told Stanley that he is going to play in the AFCON and he said ‘I will never play for AFCON as long as I am playing for Chippa’.
“I said ‘Challenge accepted’, he said if he plays AFCON he will buy me a Mercedes Benz until today I am still waiting for my Mercedes Benz (laughs).”
