Thorup shocked by Onyeka's Nigeria snub after stellar season

by Staff Reporter

Monday Apr 14, 2025. 12:57

Augsburg head coach Jess Thorup revealed that he was surprised by Nigeria coach Eric Chelle’s decision to leave out Frank Onyeka from the 23-man squad that played against Zimbabwe and Rwanda in the World Cup qualifiers last month.

Onyeka has had an impressive season with Augsburg since his season-long loan from Brentford last summer. His presence in the midfield has been key, as the team sit three points behind a European spot in the Bundesliga.

It came as a surprise when the 27-year-old was not included in Nigeria’s squad for the World Cup qualifiers, as he made the initial 39-man provisional squad but was not selected for the final cut.

Onyeka admitted that he was hurt by the snub, and Augsburg’s Thorup expressed disappointment with the midfielder not being included.

“Yeah, I think he [Onyeka] has played an amazing season in one of the top leagues in Europe. I was really surprised [that he was not called up to Nigeria’s squad],” Thorup said.

“I was sure that Frank was going to be part of it, I was even hoping he would be in the line-up and play from the beginning.

“We were all surprised, but that was the decision from the coach. Frank can only keep performing the way he’s performing and hope he will be called up next time.”

Augsburg has suffered only one defeat in their last nine matches and aims to finish the season strongly, potentially securing European football qualification for the first time since 2015.