It may have been short and sweet, but Angelo Ogbonna thoroughly enjoyed returning home to Italy for West Ham United’s 3-1 victory over Udinese on Saturday.
The Hammers spent just 24 hours in the country where Ogbonna was born, raised and made his name, first as captain of Torino – where he briefly played alongside Udinese goalkeeper Daniele Padelli – then by winning back-to-back Serie A titles and reaching a UEFA Champions League final with Juventus.
And, aside from the cold, rain and a worrying early moment that saw the 13-cap international treated for a bang on the shoulder from Udinese centre-forward Beto, it was a pleasurable trip for West Ham’s second longest-serving player.
Not only did the centre-back enjoy the demands of dealing with the tall, strong Beto and his quick, direct strike partner Isaac Success, but he took joy from seeing Said Benrahma, Manuel Lanzini – with a 25-yard thunderbolt – and Michail Antonio find the net as the Londoners recovered from conceding to Roberto Pereyra’s early goal to secure a deserved win.
“It was nice to win the game and nice to be back in Italy for me personally,” he smiled. “It’s always a joy to come back here, even for a few hours. It’s very good, but now it’s time to get back to my home!
“It was a really good test for us, so to get three goals was very important. We’re still doing a lot of jobs to get back, but it’s a nice process for us.
“There was a lot of running for us, even as centre-backs! If we want to compare Udinese, it’s a team which is very similar to a Premier League team and a good test for us.
“I really enjoyed the game. It was really important for Mick to get a goal, and for Jarrod [Bowen] as well to play like he did. Everyone played really well.
“We still have two weeks to go [until the Premier League returns], so it’s really important for us to get fully prepared. Of course, we missed a lot of the squad today, but these games are really important for us.”
The experienced 34-year-old is one of only two senior centre-backs available to manager David Moyes at present, with Nayef Aguerd and Thilo Kehrer away with Morocco and Germany respectively at the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar, Kurt Zouma recovering from knee surgery and Aaron Cresswell absent with a tight hamstring.
With those circumstances in mind, Ogbonna has started both warm-up fixtures at Cambridge United and Udinese, looks fit and strong ahead of the Premier League restart, and is ready to play if called upon at Arsenal on Boxing Day.
“We are focused on getting fit and on trying our best,” he concluded. “We know our situation in the table, but there is no pressure because we know what’s coming.”
West Ham will welcome their five World Cup players back before Christmas, and will hope to have Maxwel Cornet and Cresswell available for the third and final warm-up fixture at Fulham on Saturday 17 December.
