Premier League Defender Explains Why He Chose Switzerland Over Nigeria
- A Premier League defender has explained his decision to choose Switzerland over Nigeria internationally
- The defender who is currently on loan in the Bundesliga is also eligible to represent Germany national team
- He has made four appearances for the Swiss national team ruling him out of a possible switch of nationality
A Premier League defender has opened up on his decision to play for Switzerland despite being eligible to represent Germany and Nigeria.
The Nigeria Football Federation has been in the hunt for foreign-born Nigeria-eligible players to improve the national team in the past decade.
Source: Getty Images
This initiative was mostly prevalent during the era of former manager Gernot Rohr, who welcomed the likes of Ola Aina and Maduka Okoye.
Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong, Alexander Iwobi, Calvin Bassey are amongst the other players who chose Nigeria over their European countries.
Reigning African Footballer of the Year Ademola Lookman reaped the reward of switching to play for Nigeria after representing England at youth levels.
The Atalanta forward played in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations and won the CAF Best Award in less than three years after switching his international allegiance.
A few other players have gotten away by choosing to play for their foreign countries, including the likes of Noah Atubolu, Nnamdi Collins, and Joshua Zirkzee
The grass has not been greener for some who chose to play for Nigeria, including Chuba Akpom and Kevin Akpoguma, who have struggled for opportunities.
Schmidt explains why he chose Switzerland
Werder Bremen defender Isaac Schmidt has opened up on why he chose to represent Switzerland despite having Germany and Nigeria on his list.
The Leeds United star, who is on loan in Germany, claimed that he has a connection to the three-time African champions, but there was no contact.
"I have a strong connection to the country and have been there a few times. But I've never had any contact with the Nigerian national team,” he told Bild.
Schmidt, who's simply referred to as Osas as his middle name clarified that it was a short form and his full name is Osayimori.
As noted by ANS, he was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, to a Swiss-German father and a Nigerian mother and represented the country of his birth at U19.
He missed Switzerland’s last match, a 2-0 win over Sweden, due to a foot injury and has returned to Bremen for further assessment on the extent of the injury.
Source: Getty Images
Nigerian football writer and vocal critic Johnson Opeisa believes Nigeria's target should be aimed at developing our youth football instead of targeting players who don't want us.
“Our youth football has gotten so bad that our U17 can't even qualify for the World Cup, a tournament they have won five times,” he told Legit.ng.
“Restoring the glory of Nigerian football through our youth should be an immediate priority and not eyeing players who are not even interested in playing for us, some of whom will only consider us if they are not good enough for their foreign countries.”
Atubolu earns first Germany call-up
Legit.ng previously reported that Noah Atubolu earned his first Germany national team call-up after refusing to listen to Nigeria’s offers.
The SC Freiburg goalkeeper replaced Oli Baumann, who withdrew from the squad due to nausea, as he moved closer to his dream of playing for Die Mannschaft.
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Source: Legit.ng
