Scotland international Ikechi Anya has revealed that his father was not happy when he decided to pursue football over academics.
?Anya's father, Dr Chinasa Anya - a leading metallurgist - wanted the 27-year old to continue with his studies but the Watford star chose a completely different path by becoming a professional footballer.
?Anya has since flourished into a fully-fledged international for the Scottish national team but has revealed that his father has never seen him play live for his country.
?"Dad has never seen me play for Scotland," Anya told the Express.
?"He was trying to find out the dates of these next two games to see if he could get time off work. He has seen me a few times for Watford and is embracing it a bit more now. He is a bigger fan than he was.
?"They probably want me to do better than I want for myself, so there would be no extra pressure just because my dad was there.
?"Anybody who knows what Nigerian families are like will know how strict it is. At the end of the day, education is really the only thing offering stability and a chance to achieve something. My dad is a very clever man. He managed to peer pressure my brother down the academic route. So it was hard but football was always my passion and I decided to go with that.
?"My dad was not too happy at the time but it seems to be working out at the moment so he has eased up a bit."?
