Would Nedum Onuoha and his likes play for Nigeria?

March 11th, 2010 | by: Bc Osunneye |

Nedum OnuohaII

The list is endless for players of Nigerian decent who have decided as of today not to play for Nigeria but play for their ‘adopted’ country. Now that the World Cup in South Africa is approaching very fast, I want to take a look at these boys as I think some of them are taking a wrong decision.
Do we cajole them or do we just expect them to indicate their willingness to play for us? I actually believe all these boys should be met on a one on one basis. Some of them have only heard one side of the argument by listening to only close friends and family but if they listen to Nigeria’s coach who would give a full picture and breakdown of his aspirations, maybe, just, maybe things might change.

I know some people would think why beg those that say they don’t want to play for us; I don’t think as they are professionals they would not deliver if called. Infact I think they will be very zealous to justify their inclusion. It is not as if most of these players are needed anyway but some are needed now and some for the future.
I can excuse those that were born abroad or left Nigeria in their early life but I just cannot understand ones who relocated in their teens or even later.
Here are some of the players

Nedum Onuoha is currently plying his trade at Manchester City and is a very good versatile talent we will require in the Super Eagles. He can play as a right back and also as a central defender. We do have a vacuum at the right back and he would be very useful. He wants to go the way of fellow Warrri, Delta State born Emmanuel Olisadebe who played for Poland but would he make the English team?

200px-David_Alaba_-_Österreich_U-21_(1)

David Alaba When I saw this boy for Bayern against Florientina on Tuesday I thought to myself, Alaba must be Nigerian and low and behold he is of a Nigerian father and a Filipino mother. He fits the perfect example of catching them young before they feature for another country just like Agbonlahor eventually did for England. He would definitely have led Nigeria’s attack this summer. Gabriel Agbonlahor born in the UK, is a technically gifted and quick player. He does the work expected of a player like Yakubu and does it most perfectly.

gabriel-agbonlahor

Gabriel Agbonlahor was born 13 October 1986 of Nigerian and Scottish decent played his first competitive game in 2009 against Belarus and so is not qualified again to play for Nigeria

A strange call we heard during the nations cup was from Foluwanishola Ameobi who said he was interested in playing for Nigeria. This is a guy that probably due to wrong counsel chose not to answer our call way back then.

Fulham has Dickson Etuhu who has chosen to play for his country of birth Nigeria since he was born in Kano and only moved to the UK in his early days. He however has a new teammate in Stephen or is it Stefano Chuka Okaka who to my shock does not want to consider Nigeria. Does he think he would make the Italian team? I don’t even think he is good enough for the present day Super Eagles .

The list is endless of those that practically made choices that have not really manifested as they thought, players like Patrick Owomoyela who is not getting any younger chose to play for Germany. He was capped by Jurgen Klinsman although can be said to still have the chance due to the fact that he played only friendlies for Germany. He is of a Nigerian Dad and German mother

175px-Aogo-dennis Dennis Aogo is also in that league but he still has age on his side so should retrace his steps by learning from Owomoyela. He was born in Germany and now with Hamburg, Dennis is a strong lad playing midfield and also can double as a defender.

Victor Moses: I just heard he too wants to play for England. Why don’t these guys take a platform that would propel them easier than one that might not give them a chance. If they were excellent and in the mold of a Wayne Rooney or Drogba then you can say, with no doubt you will be selected.
Looking at the England upcoming starts I actually do not see him make the team. Would he start for Nigeria if invited, most likely not but he still has a chance of making a team of 22.

Others who have chosen to play for other countries are listed below.
AUSTRIA – Rubin Okotie (U21)

CANADA – Stephen Ademolu

ENGLAND – Carlton Cole (U21), Ugo Ehiogu,

Patrick

GERMANY – Patrick Owomoyela (11 caps)

HONG KONG – Barnes Colly Ezeh , Akandu Lawrence

ITALY – Stefano Okaka Chuka (U19)

POLAND – Emmanuel Olisadebe (25 caps)

SINGAPORE – Agu Casmir, Itimi Dickson

SPAIN – Stephen Sunday (U20) . This guy for me has no reason whatsoever not to want to play for Nigeria. He is the type of player I agree should not be appealed to. This is because he left for Europe after playing club football in Nigeria. He is different from those that do not feel a direct attachment to Nigeria.

TOGO – Emmanuel Adebayor. Yes, he is of a Nigerian father, Emmanuel Mathias (4 caps)

USA – Oguchi Onyewu (28 caps), Amobi Okugo (U20), Amaechi Igwe (U20)

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http://www.just-football.com/ Jonathan

Good stuff, but isn’t this issue less about which country a player has a better chance of playing for and more about personal pride and national identity?

You seem to be implying that if a Moses/Owomoyela etc were as good as Rooney they could and should play for the better nation (England) but that the dregs who can’t make it into their adopted squad should embrace their country of origin. Players of dual nationality should in my opinion play for which ever nation they feel more culturally aligned to, rather than whichever one offers them the best chance of making it to a World Cup.
Furacao

Straight out of the dark ages. ln these modern times, people’s nationalities are not restricted to their father’s place of birth. There is movement of people across borders and new nationalities are adopted.
lt sounds like an article pushing to use footballers of Nigerian descent for a good world cup outing. Alaba, Agbonlahor and Okaka for example were neither born nor raised in Nigeria and have no ties to there, except their father’s origin. l doubt any of these people would want to play for the Super Eagles, just because a world cup cap beckons.
http://corinthians.theoffside.com/ Hector

smh. this is another reason why Nigerian FA should focus on its Domestic League, instead of issues abroad. Like Officials have said before, none of the players domestically ever feature for Nigeria…yet they have the nerve to rely on other leagues and their development programs…

Nigeria need to develope its own players and quit relying on bloodlines.
http://nigeria.worldcupblog.org Bc Osunneye

I concur that an individual should naturally align with a country they feel culturally attached to but there is absolutely nothing wrong in seeking a possibility of them playing for whichever country they are eligible to. This is why FIFA has made it possible anyway. If it were that ‘dark’ then it would be unnecessary to offer this possibility of change after under21 appearance and this works both ways as in the argument. They should just have said, once you decide for your country of cultural alignment you cant change. I am not in anyway castigating those that have but saying facts about the end results of their actions. Would it have been better if they chose otherwise, that’s hypothetical as we cant be certain. Choosing wrongly can affect your career to develop and this is why the 2nd chance is offered.

So what do we say to countries that nationalise athletes solely for the purpose of competing for them. Athletes with no cultural alignment/attachment whatsoever other than their skills.

Also, the world cup is the ultimate in the sport called football, where you showcase yourself to billions of people world wide so it is extremely important for a player to aspire to such level of glory. This as you know offers better marketability for the individuals in question too.

It takes too to tango. You cant separate politics from football, if you do, you are doing so at your own peril. As the players choose their affiliations, so do football federations scout for the best eligible.

Yes the local league needs to be developed and taken to the level where it can compete very well at least on the African continent if not the world.

All in all the decision rests on the shoulders of the
Hany

Great article Bc Osunneye. I find it really annoying that players such as Victor Moses or Stephen Okaka choose to play for the country they ply their trade in rather than their original country. I think they would benefit much more if they choose Nigeria, as they have no chance in playing for England or Italy but maybe with Nigeria they can get that chance.

Egypt also has a wonderkid playing in Genoa called Stephan El Shaarawy who’s 16 years old a has an Egyptian father. His father actually played for el-Ahly here in Egypt but can’t convince to come and play for the national team. He is the captain of the U-21 italian team and wants to play for Italy. We also used to have a Rami Shaaban who played for Arsenal but chose to play for Sweden. Many more are coming through the youth ranks all round europe and choosing the country they are staying in over their original country.

I think this is a problem for the FA to solve, they need convincing as you said by sitting with them one-on-one. Other than that, why would they choose Nigeria or Egypt over England or Italy? Just look at the Algerian FA, they have managed to convince Ziani, Belhadj, Yebda, Meghni and several others, who didn’t live in Algeria before playing for the national team. We could learn a lesson or two from them in that field.
matthew tarfa

its a shame that the balck man is like this africans always after things that dont last, how can an african team win the world cup when most of our good players have refused to play for there father have we seen any white man play for any african country unless maybe south africa football has gone beyound sports from now till forever i give it to the brazilians brazilians die to play for there country and that is why the do so well but you see all this nigerians sorry to say for the sake of greed the say to hell to there father land now this is one way europe has underdevloped africa.if only for once nigerians home and abroad can say let do this lets leave a mark in time lets make a name for our lets do this for nigeria i tell you nigeria can win that world cup even if we have just 1 week to get prepared.look at what we have wasting away talents thats why if you go to europe the white many still cant understand why we cant achieve greatness.we have all failed this country it hurts me to see youn men like victor moses and his likes look at nigeria and turn there backs for how long will we slave for the white?i was in UK and i tell you there is no place like Home.They nigerian FA has to talk to this boys not just for there sake but for those that are left here,this is not only happening in football in all sports and other sectors.I give my self to Nigeria this is my home.with all the killing,corruptions,kidnapping,etc i still love this country.WITH OR WITHOUT THIS PLAYERS nIGERIA WILL DO WELL AT THIS COMING WORLD CUP.YES WE CAN
http://nigeria.worldcupblog.org Bc Osunneye

I concur, that’s why I wrote this article anyway. Nobody is forcing anyone to represent the country but there is absolutely nothing wrong in speaking to them. We need to have our best talents no matter where they were born. Yes they have the right to say no.

How would it have been if Zidane played for Algeria. Players like Viera, Makalele & co, were all lost the same way.
Wahid Enitan Oshodi

BC,

These players who in main are not good enough to play for the countries whichthey would like are in main not good enough to play for nigeria. In any case it seems you are clutching at straws in the hope that Nigeria can do well in the world cup. Our problems are more than searching for some b rate premiership players. Our adminisstration and organization are poor. there is no coordinated effort to look for talents in the domestic league and believe me they do exist. As usual we are planning to fail. We fo not have top quality players anymore. Most of what we have abroad are very oldlegs who are bench warmers in their clubs. Lagrerb would do well to take someyounger players to WC10. this might then be a start for the future. We have not lost anything by not talking to all the b rate players who are now available to us. let us look inwards and buildd properly from bottom up as successful nations do. Step 1 Get rid of NFF and PTF