Nigeria international Leon Balogun has explained how life in Germany turned sour with racist abuse for him before he moved to the English Premier League.
When the 30-year-old defender was young, his dream was to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria and also playing in the English topflight football.
His aim and target was accomplished in the year 2018 as he was among the Super Eagles star that played for Nigeria at the 2018 World Cup, and after the championship, he moved to England.
And while playing for German club Hannover, Leon Balogun has now explained how he encountered racial abuse before he left Germany.
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“It was at Hannover, my first club as a professional.
“During the second half, we warmed up just in front of their ultras stand. I was there with team-mate Anthony Ujah who is also Nigerian and has really dark skin.
“They started to do monkey noises. I’m a person that likes to speak up and I was like, ‘Yo, shut it — you only feel strong now because you are behind there and surrounded by people.
“I was just angry. Our fitness coach was standing next to us and saying, ‘Leon, what’s up? Calm down, calm down! Don’t give them your attention’.
“There were children surrounded by six to 12 people who did those chants, ‘Oo, oo, oo’. I was like, ‘In Germany? Seriously?’. They had black players in their team.
“My friend Ujah was attacked, I stood up for him then they went for me as well.
“Some little boy allegedly said, ‘F***ing n****r monkey’, or something like that.
“The Hannover fans went at me on social media. They thought I was stupid enough to believe those chants were for their Togo striker called Bebou.
“Whenever he touches the ball, because they love him, the whole stadium was ‘Bou-bou-bou’ or ‘Bebou, Bebou’.
“They thought I was mistaken about it,'' Leon Balogun who plays for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion explained according to UK Sun.
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Balogun made his competitive debut for Brighton coming on as an early substitute against Manchester United replacing injured Lewis Dunk as his side went on to beat United 3–2 at The Amex.
Earlier, Legit.ng had reported how Super Eagles center back Leon Balogun has sent stern warning to American super model Blac Chyna and Dencia to keep off polluting Lagos with their new product.
The 30-year-old is expected in the country's economic nerve center this weekend where the celebrities are expected to launch the product to their fans.
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Source: Legit.ng
