How Nigeria lost these great players to other countries

If you come from Nigeria, you play for Nigeria, if you are from Dakar, you play for Senegal, and if you are from Accra you can not play for France.

Deciding one’s international future takes a lot, with reference to Nigeria which has lost players who should have added extra flavour to the Super Eagles.

Players like Emmanuel Olisadebe [Poland], David Alaba [Austria] and Ugochi Onyewu [USA], Emmanuel Adebayor [Togo], Emmanuel Sarki [Haiti], Malvin Ogunjimi [Belgium], Patrick Owomoyela [Germany], Sidney Sam [Germany], Razaq Omotoyosi [Benin Republic] and a host of others, have represented their adopted countries with success.

Those who snubbed Nigeria in the past are numerous but here NAIJ.com has listed some talented players.

Angelo Ogbonna [Italy]

Dependable West Ham United central defender, Ogbonna is another painful loss due to his versatility in the defense which would have added a great value to Nigeria’s central defence.

Born in Cassino to Nigerian parents, the imposing centre-back came through the ranks with Torino before his move to Juventus and then West Ham United.

David Alaba [Austria]

Alaba

He is of Nigerian descent, and the star footballer was born in Vienna to the family of George and Gino Alaba. His father is a DJ and rapper in Austria who is a prince from Ogere, Ogun state, Nigeria.

In 2009, Alaba, 17, became the youngest player to play for the Austrian senior national team when he made his debut.

Gabriel Agbonlahor [England]

Agbonlahor currently plays for English Championship outfit Aston Villa, and he would have excelled if he had agreed to play for Nigeria years back, but he chose the other way round.

On September 20, 2006, the pacy forward was penciled-down as a player in the Flying Eagles team for the match against Rwanda.

Sadly for some Nigeria fans, he turned down the call whilst not ruling out playing for the country in the future, but subsequently pledged his future to England.

Ruben Okotie [Austria]

Okotie is on the books of Beijing BG in the Chinese League One (CLO).

Born in Pakistan, to an Austrian mother and a Nigerian father, he has defended the colours of Austria Vienna, FC Nuremberg, Sint-Truiden, Sturm Graz, SønderjyskE and 1860 Munich in his career.

Bamidele Alli [England]

John Fashanu, another player who snubbed the chance to represent Nigeria in the past reportedly tried to convince this youngster to be part of the Super Eagles’ project but the plan failed.

England moved fast to secure his international future by inviting the attacking midfielder on October 1, 2015.

He made his debut, coming on as a late substitute for Ross Barkley in a 2-0 friendly win over Estonia on October 15, that same year.

Ross Barkley [England]

Although the Everton FC play maker was born and raised in Liverpool, his paternal grandfather was Nigerian.

He was eligible to play for both England and Nigeria. Barkley excelled at youth level for England and therefore pledged his allegiance to play for their senior national team.

Ikechi Anya [Scotland]

The surname is actually from the eastern part of Nigeria, but behold, the wing-back feels Scottish.

Anya considers himself to be a Scotland star. His father is a Nigerian research scientist of the Igbo ethnic group and his mother a Romanian economist.

They moved to Scotland in the late 1980s for his father to obtain his doctorate in Metallurgy.

He received his first cap for the Scottish national team on September 6, 2013, coming off the bench in a 2-0 defeat to Belgium and scored his first international goal four days later in Scotland’s following match away to Macedonia.

Chinedu Ede [Germany]

Born February 5, 1987, Ede is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for FC Twente.

He is known for his explosive speed and dribbling style on the line.

Born to a German mother and Nigerian father, the hard working star would have been eligible to play for the Nigerian national team but decided early on to represent Germany.

Kevin Akpoguma [Germany]

Tall, strong and imposing Akpoguma has a Nigerian father who migrated to Germany some years back and is married to a German woman.

Akpoguma has already started building a good foundation for himself in the German game where he has played in all their youth teams – U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20.

He is the modern day defender – big, nimble footed and intimidating. He is a veritable asset that could have played for Nigeria, and still could if he fails to make it into the German senior team.

Chuka Okaka [Italy]

Okaka was born in Castiglione del Lago, Italy. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) made several attempts to lure him to play for the West African giants but he appeared rather focused on wearing the Italian colours and he started that by featuring for the Italy U19 side in 2007.

The Watford striker could have been a perfect solution to Nigeria’s problems in attack if he had agreed to play for the Super Eagles.

Sidney Sam [Germany]

Sidney Sam

Sam has not really gotten much talks about him since he was named in Germany’s 2014 provisional World Cup squad – his international career had just a one year span between 2013 and 2014 and made five appearances and had no goal to his name.

The utility man is currently playing for German side Schalke 04. Sam could have been one fine addition for the Super Eagles.

Carlton Okorie Cole [England]

Cole made just seven senior appearances for the Three Lions of England.

So much cannot be said about his international exploits but Cole has a lot of stories to his club career.

He scored 51 goals in 289 Premier League appearances for four clubs.

Cole began his career at Chelsea in 2001, spending spells out on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before being transferred to West Ham United in 2006. He was released by West Ham in 2013 only to be re-signed several months later, and the club released him for a second time in May 2015. In October of that year, he resumed his career at Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

He made 19 England under-21 appearances (scoring six goals), and made his debut for the England national team on 11 February 2009 in a friendly match against Spain.

At, at his peak, he is renowned for scoring important goals.

Cole is now with USA outfit Sacramento Republic.

Sheyi Ojo [England]

Though still eligible to play for the Super Eagles, Ojo has never given the thought a consideration.

The 19-year-old has a Nigerian parentage but was born in England.

A senior debut for Three Lions is just within reach, he is exciting to watch for the English U19 side.

Just like some players in the past, Ojo will never voluntarily turn up for Nigeria until a laborious process of luring them to commit his international future begin as soon as immediately.

Chigozie Udoji [Bulgaria]

Udoji was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but moved to Vihren Sandanski in 2004. He later moved to Sofia, and started to play football for CSKA Sofia.

He then played for Asteras Tripolis in Greece before relocating to Romania in 2011. He scored two goals for Atromitos, both against OFI, before leaving the club.

In 2007 Udoji featured for Bulgaria national U21 football team in a friendly match against Greece U21. He scored two goals. The result of the match was a 4–1 win for Bulgaria.

The attacking midfielder currently plays for Qingdao Jonoon and is also a holder of Bulgarian passport.

Toto Adaruns Tamuz Temile [Israel]

He grew up in Nigeria and was well acquainted with the culture and tradition of his country of birth. The sharp shooter didn’t play for Nigeria and it is still a riddle till date, considering the rich soccer history of the Temiles’ in the West African country.

Born in Warri, Nigeria, his parents came to Israel in 1990, where his father, footballer Clement Temile, played professionally for Beitar Netanya. When the team ran into financial dire straits and was forced to stop paying salaries, his parents reverted to working various odd jobs.

His parents left Israel in 1991 to try to find gainful employment in Nigeria or elsewhere, leaving Toto temporarily with a teammate of his father.

When it became obvious that his parents were not coming back for him, Toto was adopted (unofficially) by Orit Tamuz who cared for him and raised him, which is where his Hebrew surname derives from. Although it is unclear if he formally converted to Judaism, it was stated in a 2007 Ynetnews article that Tamuz was raised Jewish, attending the synagogue on holidays and performing kiddush each Friday.

Tamuz started to play organised football at Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C., where he made his professional debut during the 2005–2006 season in a match against F.C. Ashdod. His debut made national headlines after he scored two goals during the match.

The striker whose current club is Hunan Billows made his debut in the Israeli senior team at age 18, on 6 September 2006 against Andorra in a home match played at Goffertstadion, Nijmegen, in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match. He also scored in his debut, making it his debut goal for the national team.

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo)

The former Arsenal man was regarded as the worst miss for Nigeria as he would have added values to the Super Eagles of Nigeria, but he turned the offer to play for Nigeria down and represented Togolese national team.

Adebayor was born in Lome in 1984, but his parents are yorubas as they are from Ejigbo, a town in Osun state.