By Daily Sports on June 8, 2017

England is basking in the euphoria of winning the Under-21 World Cup which recently ended in South Korea. Since winning the 1966 senior World Cup which it hosted, they hadn’t won any major international competition until now. Disappointment after disappointment had been the order of things with English football for many years as generations of very good players failed to bring home a major cup. Now the country is hoping that winning the under 21 world cup will be the beginning of an era of triumphs in major international competitions.

One thing that was remarkable about England’s under-21 team’s success, at least from Nigeria’s perspective, was the fact that the England squad was made up of six Nigerian players who were central to that country’s successful outing in the

These players, who are eligible to represent Nigeria at the senior level, include Dominic Solanke, who emerged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

Others are Ademola Lookman, Josh Onomah, Fikayo Tomori, Seyi Ojo and Ovie Ejaria, who even trained with Nigeria’s U-17 team of 2013, but left the camp because of pressure from his former team, Arsenal.

Now the international future of these players has become an inevitable topic of discussion. One opinion that struck me was the call made by former England player Danny Mills to the players to shun Nigeria and opt to play for the England senior team of the opportunity arises.

Danny Mills, who was a guest analyst of the BBC during the final game against Venezuela, said: “Again, I’m going to be biased but if you have the opportunity to play for England, you have to take it.

“The quality of England, for me, far outweighs the chances you will have for Nigeria. OK, you might go to the African Cup of Nations, you might pick up a medal.

But in terms of competitions that really matter on the world stage, the Europeans, the World Cup…England would be your first port of call.”

I simply have to say in response that though I think it’s natural for these Nigerians to always want to play for England having been born and bred in the English society which they see as home, there’s nothing to suggest that choosing England would guarantee them a better international future than opting for their fatherland.

While I concede that English senior team football have got a good foundation for progress with better administration of the game there and a number of good players , they’ve not been able to leverage that into international success and winning the Under-21 World Cup could well be a swallow that doesn’t make a summer.

Suggesting that winning the African Nations Cup is somewhat more glamorous than winning the African nations cup is a disrespect to football in the black continent.

Source Daily Sports

Posted June 15, 2017

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