Nigeria boast so many talented youngsters with dual nationalities in Europe and a couple of them could end up playing for the Super Eagles
Super Eagles head coach Jose Peseiro has revealed that he is not against inviting young, talented players of Nigerian descent to play for the three-time African champions.
Peseiro has already handed Anglo-Nigerian full-back Bright Osayi-Samuel his Super Eagles debut in the international friendly with Portugal on the eve of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Many more abound including Chelsea duo of Carney Chukwuemeka and Noni Madueke, Crystal Palace pair of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise, Fulham centre-back Tosin Adarabioyo, and Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, who is presently excelling on loan at Stade de Reims.
Peseiro admits it would be difficult forming a good Super Eagles team from so many talented players with Nigerian blood running in their veins.
But with a target of winning the next Africa Cup of Nations, the Portuguese tactician confesses he will only consider working with those with elite quality and an unquestionable desire to play for Nigeria.
“There are many, many players at the moment that can play for Nigeria,” Peseiro told the Mirror.” With that, it’s not easy, our work.
“You receive some information or when you watch many players on TV or live, you can discover more players, more players, more players.
“I was in some matches when I was in England to see some players, then at the same time we discover, ‘well that player can play for us, also’, normally young players.
“There are many good players with quality, capacity and good training. For us, if we want to win the next AFCON, I am happy because I have many players with quality to create a good national team.
“But it’s not easy to choose the right players. We try to see them in the match, after that I try to call them for our practice and our friendly games because we want to create a small group with quality for developing in training and practice to implement our ideas to win the next AFCON.
“But there are a lot of players, and they need to show the maximum demand and motivation to play for Nigeria. Quality, of course, but demand and motivation to play for us.”
William Troost-Ekong, Leon Balogun, Ola Aina, Tyronne Ebuehi, Maduka Okoye, Josh Maja, and Victor Moses are some of the players who chose to play for Nigeria when they were eligible to represent other countries.
Former Chelsea winger Victor Moses was a key member of the Super Eagles squad that lifted Nigeria’s most recent Afcon Cup in 2013.
This post was last modified on January 22, 2023 1:48 pm