I see Liverpool winning EPL title this season – Femzi Joe

Ibadan-based skit maker, Oluwafemi Omosebi, popularly known as AkubaThe Crazy, talks about his love for Lionel Messi, his favourite club, Liverpool, life as a kid, and more in this interview with EBENEZER BAJELA

What do you do when you are not on set making skits?

I think it is normal that I just do what is expected of me when I am less busy, which means I stop being the character that I am known for, which is Akuba the Crazy.

Does being yourself mean watching sports like others?

I love sports, but I am not deeply rooted in them. I watch football, but as I said earlier, it is not something I do every time.

Which football club do you support?

I support the winning team, whether in Spain, England, France, or Germany. That’s a joke, by the way. On a more serious note, I support Liverpool because I love the club. I fell in love with them because of Jurgen Klopp. He is a manager that I like so much. I like his personality, especially how he relates with the players and handles things. He is kind of different, and that is why I fell in love with the club.

How did you feel when he announced his decision to leave the club last season?

I was very sad and said the main man was gone. He is someone that the fans really like because he does his work with passion.

Does his exit change how you feel about the club?

I am still a Liverpool fan because I love how they play even under the new manager, Arne Slot, who has done very well with just a few months in charge of the club.

Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League table. Do you see them beating Manchester City to the title?

I believe that Slot can guide Liverpool to the Premier League title because you can see that the players remain hungry for titles just as they were then, and they are still playing the same good football that they played under Klopp. We know how stubborn and good City are, but I believe that Slot can lead Liverpool to the title.

The question of who is a better player between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo is an argument that we don’t see going away anytime soon. Who is your pick between the two great players?

For me, it has to be Lionel Messi. I wasn’t really a big fan of his when he was playing for Barcelona, but at the last World Cup in Qatar, I just had to fall in love with him because we all saw how he played. He proved to me that he was the best because we all saw the desire and the hunger to win the World Cup, and that was why I fell in love with him, and I pick him over Ronaldo.

Who is your greatest Nigerian player?

I think I will pick Osaze Odemwingie. He was a player I liked so much when he was still playing for the Super Eagles. I think I will also go for Victor Moses. They are the two best players I have seen playing for Nigeria.

The whole world saw what happened to the Super Eagles in Libya…

(Cuts in) I saw in the news how the players were left stranded at the airport for almost 20 hours, and these are things we should not be seeing in football.

Which sports were you actively involved in as a kid?

I played a lot of football growing up, especially the favourite five-aside. I was good at playing as a striker and a goalkeeper; my teams knew that they could always count on me in either position. I think I was even better as a goalkeeper than as a striker.

Why didn’t you consider taking it as a career?

I don’t think football is meant for people like me (laughs). I enjoyed my time as a kid on the pitch, but genuinely speaking, I don’t think I would have done well playing it professionally because for me, football back then was just a way to engage myself in one activity or another, but I never for once saw it as something that I wanted to pursue as a career.

Also, I don’t think I had the financial backing because that is another thing that would have worked against me. But generally, for me, football was just a way of catching fun, and there was never a time that the thought of playing it at the highest level crossed my mind.

What advice will you give your kids should they consider pursuing a career in football?

If they have a passion for it, I will encourage them to do so. We all know that there is a lot of money involved now, but the important thing is to first love what they do, and then they can pursue it.

Could you recall disobeying your parents just to go play football with your friends?

I disobeyed them countless times, and honestly, I can’t put a number to that because I always wanted to play football with friends, knowing full well what awaits me when I return. I know when I come back they would either beat me or make me serve some punishments, but you just don’t care at the time. My mum’s favourite punishment was ‘frog jump’ and all your waist and thigh will ache, but that won’t stop me from playing or returning to the pitch. The truth is that this time I don’t see it as a form of obedience; rather, I see it as my parents preventing me from doing what I enjoyed, and that is why I will always go back to play football. Funny enough, everything is now history.

Do you regret not taking football as a career?

I don’t have any regrets about not playing football because I don’t see football as something that I am destined to do. There was no purpose for playing football other than for fun because back then I could just be walking on the street and see people playing football; I would join them, unlike those that are registered in academies or clubs, and play it for a purpose. The reality is that I enjoyed my skit-making because it comes so easily and naturally to me.