Former Sunshine Stars defender, Stephen Eze, has credited the progress of his football career to the toughness of the Nigeria Premier Football League as he hopes to conquer new grounds with Jamshedpur in the Indian Super League, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
Eze departed the shores of Nigeria in 2018 after featuring for several clubs in the Nigerian topflight and has now featured for other clubs across Europe and Asia.
After featuring for Lobi Stars, he became a prominent figure in the NPFL at Sunshine Stars, making 63 appearances and scoring three goals in three seasons before jumping ship to FC Ifeanyi Ubah and later Kano Pillars.
In the wake of the trend of local talents avoiding the NPFL while trying to secure moves abroad, the former Sunshine Stars defender said, “For me, the NPFL was the process for my growth,” the defender told PUNCH Sports Extra.
“The mental toughness and all the stress that comes with travelling for games and training made me who I am today. I got help during my time and also those with the young players of now should help them to be mentally strong because football is not only about talent. You need discipline, hard work and mental toughness to survive abroad.”
Having won the Bulgarian Cup with Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2019, the 30-year-old is eyeing another glory in the Indian Super League with Jamshedpur who are currently fourth in the table 28 points after 16 matches.
The lanky defender has scored two goals in 14 games this season.
“For my team here in India, I am doing my best to see we get to the playoffs of the final six teams at the end of the season.
“The level here is okay based on the foreign players and some locals too who are doing great, you know when people hear India they think the league is not challenging. It is tough here because too many good foreign players do come to play here in India.”
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