Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
You could forgive Toronto FC rookie Ifunanyachi Achara if he thought \u201cWhy me?\u201d<\/p>\n
When the 16-year-old Achara came to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2014 to attend Berkshire High School in Massachusetts, he had to undergo a one-month quarantine because of concerns over Ebola. He had flown out of Lagos where cases had been reported.<\/p>\n
Fast forward six years and Achara found himself in COVID-19 lockdown just days after celebrating scoring the winning goal in his pro debut March 7.<\/p>\n
The young forward is not thinking of himself these days, however. While he misses soccer, he knows there\u2019s more at stake.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just have to understand this is bigger than all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s just grateful he got the opportunity to earn an MLS contract and make Toronto\u2019s first team.<\/p>\n
Achara\u2019s thoughts are for his family and others back home in Enugu, where his father runs a small retail store.<\/p>\n
One brother and sister are back in Nigeria. A younger brother, Ugo Achara Jr., is a sophomore forward at Northwestern University and is weathering the pandemic with a friend in Chicago.<\/p>\n
Nigeria, a country of some 214 million located off the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, had just over 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 211 deaths as of Friday, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. Enugu state had 16 confirmed cases and no deaths.<\/p>\n
Achara wonders about the numbers, questioning how much testing is being done in his home country.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere\u2019s concern,\u201d said Achara, noting Nigeria lifted its lockdown after just two weeks. \u201cI\u2019m worried about the virus and stuff because I feel like maybe it\u2019s spreading and they\u2019re not paying attention as much as they should.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s worried about Nigeria\u2019s health-care system \u2013 and his family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my family, they\u2019re taking it seriously. I hope they are. I mean they told me they are, so I believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father is seen as an essential worker so his store remains open.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him \u2018Hey, you have to really be careful about going out,\u2019\u201d said Achara, who has not been home since 2016.<\/p>\n
The concerns go both ways. His mother offered some good advice in telling Achara to make the most of the break, given he has been consumed by school and soccer ever since coming to North America.<\/p>\n
Brian Wiese, his coach at Georgetown University, told him virtually the same thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said \u2018Be healthy.\u2019 Because I wasn\u2019t healthy the whole time at Georgetown,\u201d said Achara.<\/p>\n
Taken in the first round (25th overall) of the 2020 MLS SuperDraft, Achara earned a contract after scoring three goals in pre-season despite missing the first part of training camp due to illness.<\/p>\n
Toronto believes Achara would have gone much higher in the draft had he not enduring a string of injuries with the Hoyas.<\/p>\n
After sitting out Toronto\u2019s season-opening 2-2 tie in San Jose, he was a late addition to the starting lineup a week later against New York City FC when Tsubasa Endoh failed a late fitness test.<\/p>\n
Achara wasted little time making an impression on the home crowd at BMO Field. While an 11th-minute goal was ruled offside, Achara scored the winner in the 81st minute.<\/p>\n
\u201cTonight, he was fantastic,\u201d coach Greg Vanney said after the match. \u201cHe\u2019s been fantastic since the day he arrived in pre-season in L.A. \u2026 From the day he arrived, he\u2019s shown that he fits in, that he\u2019s talented, that\u2019s he\u2019s a smart player, he can adapt within the game, can read plays, can play on the move as we saw tonight. He\u2019s got soft feet even when he\u2019s playing on the run.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd he\u2019s got a nose for goal. He scored twice tonight, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Achara praises the team for how its has treated its players during the pandemic, the young forward finds himself in a new city with not many acquaintances other than his teammates. He knew winger Jacob Shaffelburg from their time together at Berkshire High School.<\/p>\n
Living in a high-rise near the team\u2019s north Toronto training facility, Achara has not had much of a chance to check out his new city. He doesn\u2019t have a car so the club picks him to take him to individual workouts rather than leave it to a cab.<\/p>\n
It is one of the highlights of his week.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you gets to see the coaches and the staff, even if it\u2019s like six feet or two metres away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun, (it) just feels normal again,\u201d he added. \u201cI know it\u2019s not but it\u2019s something to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Achara has been trying to make the best of the situation. He was featured in a Toronto FC workout video, hefting cans of tomatoes as makeshift weights.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to stay fit,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Away from practice, he has been rewatching TFC\u2019s first two games of the season and delving into YouTube, watching Champions League finals and other games from the past.<\/p>\n
The return of the Bundesliga has also provided a lift.<\/p>\n
His elegantly braided hair has proved to be a challenge, however. Normally he leaves the \u201cretwists\u201d to a professional every three to four weeks but has had to do it himself of late.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hair. I need a new haircut, for sure,\u201d he said with a belly-laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s not looking good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa Press-Nigeria: You could forgive Toronto FC rookie Ifunanyachi Achara if he thought \u201cWhy me?\u201d When the 16-year-old Achara came to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2014 to attend Berkshire High School in Massachusetts, he had to undergo a one-month quarantine because of concerns over Ebola. He had flown out of Lagos where cases had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":25442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[174,115],"class_list":["post-25441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n