Arsenal youth player, and Nigeria’s U23
midfielder, Alex Iwobi has received the praise of Arsenal U21s coach, Steve
Gatting. He was hailed after putting in another goal scoring performance in
the U21 league match against Brighton.
“Alex played No 9 against Brighton and he is a huge threat,” the coach told the
official Arsenal website.
“He gets in good goal scoring
positions but I guess it was one of those goals where it was more difficult to
miss.”
The 19 year old, who is the nephew of
Super Eagles legend, Jay-Jay Okocha, has been on a goal scoring run for
Arsenal’s U21 team, his latest goal was his fifth goal in the last six
matches.
The Nigerian born midfielder came
through Arsenal’s Hale
End Academy,
and has played for the various youth teams at the club. He was recently
promoted as the captain of the club’s U21s. He has pledged to play for Nigeria despite being an England youth
international and he has been involved with English Youth teams at U16s, U17
and U18 level. The youngster has made some huge
stride in the Arsenal reserve this season.
The 19 year old was invited
to the U23 squad by Samson Siasia in February for an All African Games
qualifier against Gabon.
However, he did not play a part in the game as clearance had not been received
from FIFA to rubber stamp his change of nationality. Such clearance was needed as he had previously played for England at youth level. He ended up watching the match from the stands.
While he was at the U23s camp, he told the BBC earlier in the year why he
decided to play for Nigeria.
“I grew up watching Nigerian
football and read all about my uncle’s [Jay-Jay Okocha] remarkable career and
the success story of [Nwankwo] Kanu with Nigeria and Arsenal.
“It’s my second time with the
U-23s and I think I have made the right decision coming here [Nigeria.]”
The All Africa Games comes up in
September in Congo Brazzaville and Nigeria will be participating in the football event. The FIFA clearance should have been secured by
then for him to be eligible to play for the Dream Team. With the Rio Olympic Games
qualifiers to begin months from now, his long awaited debut for the Samson Siasia touted team should not be far off.
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