Boro helped me seal World Cup place – Omeruo

Nigerian defender, Kenneth Omeruo, believes his spell at English Championship side, Middlesbrough, helped him seal a World Cup place.
Strapping Chelsea centre-back Ormeruo has been on loan at Boro since January and has flourished on Teesside.
He has played 14 times and grew by the week.
And Omeruo is quick to give credit where it is due.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time at Middlesbrough,” said Omeruo as Nigeria’s team gathered for their pre-tournament training camp. “I knew that if I had the chance to play, I would keep the position.
“I would like to thank the club, the manager especially, for believing in me and playing me. I’m happy that I didn’t disappoint him.
“I knew I had to play a lot of games to be fit for the World Cup and also to make the squad.
“I had the chance to do that at Middlesbrough so it’s been a really good season for me.”
Omeruo’s next big task is to stop the awesome Lionel Messi.
The manager he speaks of is Aitor Karanka, who graced the Bernabeu with Real Madrid during his playing days, winning three UEFA Champions Leagues as well as playing for Spain.
“It’s easy to play under a manager that has played in the centre of defence,” Omeruo explained. “They understand the role you have in the team.
“I’m lucky to have the same in the national team with Stephen Keshi. You get advice from them on how you should play.”
Before his stint at Boro, Omeruo played in Holland for 18 months with ADO Den Haag, an experience he believes was vital in his growth into an international player too.
“I think a lot of my development was from Dutch football,” he said.
“I was under a good manager there, who liked me and the way I play. He played me in a position that I didn’t know how to play before, fullback.
“It was a really good experience. That’s what got me into the national team.”
Nigeria are in a group that includes highly-fancied Argentina and the challenge of containing Messi and Co but have also been pitted against Iran and debutants Bosnia-Herzegovina – and he believes that gives them a fighting chance to progress to the knockout phase.
His stint in Holland and a key role in helping Nigeria to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup final in 2009 and FIFA Under-20 World Cup quarter-finals two years later, gave Keshi food for thought heading into the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013.
Omeruo was young and it was a gamble to promote him to the senior side aged just 19 but he grabbed his opportunity with both hands.
“It was unbelievable,” Omeruo said. “It was my first appearance for the national team at the start of the tournament, and then there we were, lifting the trophy. I felt good and it was a day I will never forget.”