The former Chelsea and Juventus attacker was eligible to play for Nigeria and England, but she chose the latter
Former Chelsea attacker Eni Akuko has attributed the trend of Nigerian players with dual nationalities opting for other countries to the lack of appeal for Nigerian football, Soccernet.ng reports.
The country have lost a lot of sportsmen and women to European and North American countries over the years.
Established world stars like Bukayo Saka, Jamal Misiala, Michael Olise, Eberechi Eze, Vicky Lopez, are just some of the players who have been lost to European countries due to their dual nationalities.
In fact if the players who have snubbed the country are assembled, they can easily form a starting eleven for the Super Eagles.
Former Chelsea attacker Aluko, is one of the players who snubbed the Super Falcons to play for another country － England.
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The former Three Lionesses star was born in Nigeria to Nigerian parents, but moved to England before she turned a year. She made her debut for England’s senior team at the age of 17 and went on to earn 104 senior caps.
She was a guest on Obi Mikel’s Obi One Podcast, and she spoke about why she feels players with dual nationalities often choose the other countries.
Aluko noted that most of those players hardly have a connection with Nigeria, especially since they were brought up in those countries. Also, the Nigerian national teams aren’t as attractive as the top European countries.
“I think England is England, I think the players that grew up here (England) and choose to play for their country of heritage, it’s usually because they feel like they can’t, they won’t make it a career for England, right. So it’s almost a default decision, which it shouldn’t be,” Aluko said.
“The onus is on the country to make it a very attractive option. And we know that there’s some issues there that still need to be sorted out in terms of the organization, in terms of the investment, in terms of just the professionalism, right?
“So I think it’s it’s really, really important for the Nigerian federation to make sure that it is a competitive choice.”
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Players who went against the odds to play for Nigeria
Although there is an unending list of Nigerians with dual nationalities who chose to represent their other countries, there are also some who committed to the green and white.
The Super Falcons have a good number of players with dual nationalities like Ashleigh Plumptre, Jennifer Echegini, Michelle Alozie, Toni Payne, and a few others.
In the Super Eagles fold, there are players like Ademola Lookman, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina, and Joe Aribo.