‘It was difficult because I was raised in England’- Iwobi on why he chose to play for Nigeria

The 25-year-old is a key player under Gernot Rohr in the Super Eagles squad, but he could also have played for the Three Lions

Everton midfielder has said that it was initially difficult to choose Nigeria ahead of England, but he revealed his Nigerian environment made it an easy decision later.

Alex Iwobi made his debut for Nigeria in 2015 under former Super Eagles captain Sunday Oliseh and has gone on to win 37 more caps.

However, the Nigerian could have played for the Three Lions as he grew up in England and has been part of the Arsenal group since nine.

Iwobi made seven appearances at the youth level for England but revealed he had always been surrounded by the Nigerian culture, making it easy to switch international allegiance.

“It was difficult because I was raised in England,” he told Gaffer. “But as I’ve grown up surrounded by Nigerian culture that made it easy for me to pick Nigeria. It just felt right.”

Iwobi has scored nine goals for Nigerian since making his debut, including a brace in a 4-2 win over Argentina in 2017.

However, none is as important as the one he scored against Zambia in October 2017, which sent Nigeria to the 2018 World Cup.

Iwobi says there’s no better feeling than scoring goals for either club, even with the current situation shutting fans outside the stadiums.

“Whenever I score, it’s a mad feeling,” he added. “Even when I played at school, even now when fans aren’t in the stadium, you still go celebrate when you score because of that rush.”