Two Nigeria-eligible footballers get France Olympics call-up

Former Barcelona and French winger, Thierry Henry, has included two Nigeria-eligible players in his provisional squad for the 2024 Olympic games, Soccernet.ng reports.

The former Arsenal man worked with the Belgium national team as an assistant manager during the 2018 World Cup and the EURO 2021 tournament before he was appointed as the French U-23 coach last year.

Tasked with the responsibility of seeking out a gold medal on home soil at the 2024 Olympics, the former Juventus winger selected two players of Nigerian descent.

Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise, and Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu were included in Henry’s 23-man squad. Other notable inclusions include Alexandre Lacazette, Jean Philippe-Mateta, Mathys Tel, and PSG’s Warren Zaïre-Emery.

Olise was born in England to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mother and is eligible to represent France, Algeria, England or Nigeria internationally. The 22-year-old has been playing for the French youth team since 2019.

Like Olise, Ugochukwu is of Nigerian descent. He is the nephew of former Rennes and Super Eagles defender, Onyekachi Apam, and has represented France from the U-18 level to the U-23.

Olise scored 10 goals and provided six assists in 19 games for Crystal Palace last season, while Mateta scored 16 and provided 5 assists for the Eagles in the English Premier League.

The combination of the duo will play a huge role in how far France will go at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The football tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics will be held from 24 July to 10 August 2024.