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@ jotey
Forget the headline's spin... Focus on the quotes. This is pulse.ng


Super Eagles star reveals why he chose Nigeria over England

Alex Iwobi says he was impressed with how he was treated by the Nigerian football world which convinced him to play for the Super Eagles
Published: 18.07.2017 , Refreshed: 19.07.2017 Steve DedePrinteMail

Alex Iwobi reveals why he choose Nigeria over England (Reuters)



Iwobi represented England in youth competition (FA)
The 21-year-old, however, switched his allegiance to Nigeria snubbing last-minute pressure from England.
According to the Arsenal star, the way he was treated by the Nigerian football world influenced his decision to play for his country of birth.
Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, John Oguplay
Alex Iwobi is happy with how he has been well received in the national team (Twitter/John Ogu)
“Originally I’m from Nigeria. I always felt comfortable there. It was a hard decision because I’d played for England but I felt more at home there,” Iwobi told Daily Cannon.
“When I first went they treated me like royalty. For the U-23s, like a king. It’s a big thing there.

”As I was about to play my first match (for Nigeria) Roy Hodgson was in contact with Arsenal saying they’d like me to get involved with the U-21s but my mind was made up. It’s my decision.”
Iwobi has gone to made 10 caps for the Super Eagles and has become one of their most exciting players.
His only goal for the Super Eagles of Nigeria, came in their impressive 2-1 away win at Zambia in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

http://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/alex-iwobi-reveals-why-he-choose-nigeria-over-england-id7011006.html

What some of us don't understand is that these players have to have good public relations. Iwobi is now answerable to the Nigerian Public.

If you want me to dig out what he's said to the English media, I will

jotey:
I am not arguing to win but iwobi always said he wanted to play for Nigeria

you can prove me wrong

i'm not sure where you are going with that

kingphilip:
how about Dr. Okonjo Iweala

Nigerian Public Relations.. Iwobi does not regret his decision to play for Nigeria. In fact he cherishes it.
Some of these players like Nigeria as well.. England were too late after Iwobi gave up on them. They stopped inviting him for a long while. And that's a fact

jotey:
it is not even owngoalnigeria sef

https://sports.naij.com/781882-always-wanted-represent-nigeria-iwobi.html

However, the player disclosed to Punch
that he has never contemplated for the
Three Lions, adding that he is happy to
play for Nigeria.
"I just came (to Nigeria) and I had food
poisoning but I was able to continue
training the next day. I've always wanted
to represent Nigeria because that’s where
my family's from, that’s where I'm from
and this is where I feel comfortable
playing for. It’s a personal decision and
I'm happy to be here," Iwobi said.

Yes Iwobi was quoted. The Guardian said Iwobi would have "loved" (quoting Iwobi) to play for England.
And if i do more search I'm sure I will find more evidence.

Even if Aina and Iwobi both said that in their childhood, that would be mere child talk... But thankfully today it's a reality as many factors made it go our way.

Mujtahida:
Hahahaha hahahaha. I presume you got that from reading owngoalnigeria.com where they reported that he said Aina and himself had always dreamed of going to the World Cup with Nigeria. If my guess is good then omo you just fell into owngoalnigeria.com stew. Iwobi never said that. It's owngoalnigeria.com putting a spin on what he said during the celebrations on our qualifiers.

I'm not here to argue. Go watch the video of Iwobi's Dad interview and then we can talk plus read the article posted by Joebie written in the guardian.uk

What does joker mean? Some people will take it as if Rohr was boasting about Moses.
We need to do better with analyzing stories.

Any team that focuses on Moses will pay dearly.

Modified
Keshi didn't need to boast about Onazi... Some things are just obvious even during match-time analysis.

AIG07:
yes I get you Sir. But V. Moses isn't Messi or Ronaldo.

Truly everyone knows how important he is to the team, but rohr coming out to say that he'll be your joker has gone to far. All what our opponents will be after is shutting him up or better still take him out of the equation. Don't forget Onazi in the last worldcup. The french spotted him as the smallest rudder turning the entire engine. They took him out and we collapsed.

Didn't Ejaria train with our U17 (was it?). Didn't he say he would love to play for Nigeria?
Why did England invite him to their U20 afterwards?
And why didn't he turn down England for Nigeria?
Call that "begging"?

you will lose this argument.

jotey:
big fat big lie @ the bolded

iwobi has always said he wanted to play for Nigeria

Every young player believe they will make the grade until the clouds starts getting gloomy.

Modified
Let me modify that earlier analogy. The girl in question believes whole-heartedly that this guy that has been taking her on trips etc will marry her one day. All of a sudden he doesn't call like he use to. He stops taking her out..

get it?

jotey:
I did not say England don't qualify for tournaments

but will he make the world cup squad?

We are saying the same thing.

Mujtahida:
Iwobi chose us because England stopped calling. His Dad said choosing Nigeria is the best choice they ever made and that he played some football back in Nigeria with ambition to don the green and white but that dream was never to be and so that the day Iwobi made his debut he(the Dad) wept tears of joy for his son reaching heights he could not reach, doing what he wished he did but couldn't do.
In all honesty none of them will ditch their adopted countries for Nigeria. However like Alex's Dad said with us they have better opportunities. Do you think Iwobi would be making it with the three Lions as he's been doing for the Eagles?

fine idea

AIG07:
i'll love to see Ebuehi and Aina starts together as our full backs and seeing both swap position in the second half to know who is better when it comes to the R and L back.

lol... World Cup has always been a constant for England.. That was a perfect analogy. You are not being sincere with the situation.

jotey:
you are confusing the two bro

England with all their organised..non craw craw bla bla bla can't win any trophy

use another analogy pls

I rather stick with the guy with disorganized guy cos I know trophy sure for me and I go go world cup

Oga, Victor Moses's importance/role in that team is crystal clear for anyone who watches even one of our matches. Rohr is just saying the obvious.
I like Rohr's spirit. He knows we have to even improve to do well in Russia. I'm am totally confident in Rohr.

AIG07:
hmmm... When will our coaches learn how to keep their cards close to their chests.

Here again, Rohr don de tell the world who his best player is.

Thank You!!!

Modified
Let me add that the fact is we are a fall back option (when the preferred guy stops showing interest the girl starts considering the craw-craw guy to see if those bad stories about him are true.) It's just the bitter truth. We need to say it as it is.. until we fix how we do things in this country.

Mujtahida:
Exactly!! Iwobi's Dad said Iwobi was a sceptical when he received call up from Nigeria but that he told the young man that they should travel to Nigeria to see for themselves cos of the negative things they heard. I am not keen about FB's but about the best for the Eagles however I do understand in a little way that such decisions are not easy to make. Goodjoe gave an analogy of a girl putting one guy on hold just to see if the one she has her eyes on would court her. But that's a very imperfect analogy so long as he failed to factor in the fact that the young woman being courted by two guys-one she has no relationship with other than they are from the same ethnic group, the other guy though not from her ethnic group one to whom she has a relationship, she grew up with him, he played with her, she's emotionally attached to him, he's taught her lots of things, made available for her good, the resources he has, he's taken her out for several trainings and vacations. Meanwhile the other guy who is now just coming is one whom she's heard has craw-craw, is very disorganised, loves being crooked etc. The goodjoe who between this two would you have your daughter chose?
I repeat, such decisions are not easy.

Pinnick and Tammy's father grew up together. Didn't you read that earlier?

Kog45:
I see it as extra miles for FA boas to be involved personally to convince d guy.Did he do that in d case of Aina even Iwobi.

As a matter of fact that's what most of these youth teamers would say..
The media just puts a spin to it and call it whatever

tbaba1234:
There is nothing in that interview. He spoke of his delight playing for the youth teams and potentially playing for Germany. He gave a standard response to a question.

Agbo has been in the team. Let's see what he can do.. A realistic expectation will be Rohr giving Ogu, Agu and Agbo playing opportunities in the absence of Mikel and Ndidi.

soetanoreoluwa:
Agbo! my guy... (in voice of iwobi) Lol

I didn't see too much of changes sha

Hmmm let see what the coach will bring up...

How do you mean extra miles?
Have we made another approach on Tammy? I'm not aware of that. If we have, that would be "extra miles".

Kog45:
I understand your view but do we need to go extra miles in convincing these players like we are still doing with Tammy.

Well if we succeed in sandwiching the Algeria tie between two friendlies as was reported we can do much of our experimenting with the friendlies instead. Then maintain the core of the team as well as cap the "cappable" foreign-breds with the dead-rubber match.

soetanoreoluwa:
I read it.. It's only Tunisia friendly on the front burner Now... That's what I knew now...

Exactly. Perfect analogy. Let's see who will be sincere enough to answer accordingly.

soetanoreoluwa:
Just put this question to them

Which council will you choose?... Nigeria calling you to be part of her government and United Nations calling you to be part of her governing council bear it in mind you have not been to Nigeria before.. All your life style is part of governing council of united nation... And you have heard alot of negative stories about Nigeria.. Which one will you choose?

Let us see their responses

No we should make a move for Uduokhai, as we have not done so officially.

Kog45:
Jobie meaning we should forget about him,though d interview was on 6th Feb 2017.

Pls let us concentrate on Balogun,Ekong, Awaziem, Omeruo,Agbo even bring in Eze,Adeleye,Alimi(am talking thrash mentioning Eze,Adeleye,Alimi abi) and bring out d best in them,am tired of all these foreign born we must beg before playing for us.

No we should make a move Uduokhai, as we have not done so officially.

Kog45:
Jobie meaning we should forget about him,though d interview was on 6th Feb 2017.

Pls let us concentrate on Balogun,Ekong, Awaziem, Omeruo,Agbo even bring in Eze,Adeleye,Alimi(am talking thrash mentioning Eze,Adeleye,Alimi abi) and bring out d best in them,am tired of all these foreign born we must beg before playing for us.

That's fine.. then opportunities for Ogu, Agbo, and even new invitees. I'd like to see the Nwakali brothers and Azubuike Okechukwu

soetanoreoluwa:
Ndidi and Mikel might not be called up due to injury on Ndidi and club engagement on the side if Mikel

Great!

jotey:
England U21 Ace Tammy
Abraham Once Again
Suggest His Interest In
Playing For Nigeria

https://i0.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_3694.jpg

England U21 forward Tammy Abraham has
dropped another hint as regards his interest in
switching allegiance to Nigeria who are through
to the World Cup.

Two weeks ago the 19 year old denied any talks
about a switch of allegiance, but two days ago
he confirm talks are ongoing with Nigeria shortly
after scoring for England U21 in their 3-1 win
over Scotland.

Abraham who has been ever present for the
U21s of England who are top of their Euro 2019
qualifying group liked and commented on a
video posted by Alex Iwobi on Instagram.
Iwobi posted a video of the winner he scored
against Zambia, which qualified Nigeria for the
World Cup in Russia and Abraham was among
those who liked the post.

https://i1.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_3693.jpg

He followed it up with a post which reads ” The
Greatest “, before recently capped Nigeria
senior international Ola Aina who also played for
England at various youth levels commented by
posting “My guy #BIG17 for president!!!”.

Already Iwobi has confirmed he will have a chat
with the forward to try and convince him to
switch allegiance to Nigeria just like himself and
Aina.. He however said the final decision is for
Abraham to decide.

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/10/11/england-u21-ace-tammy-abraham-once-again-suggest-his-interest-in-playing-for-nigeria/

cc: joebie..I finally got it right. thanks

I was speaking of November proposed friendlies. Didn't you read that story?

soetanoreoluwa:
No it's only China and South Korea... And it has been cancelled due to 2019 AFCON qualifier away against sychilles...

Only Tunisia friendly still on now

Let's say it as it is. I only remember Ekong and Balogun showing interest before we approached.
Otigba, Alaba, Dessers, Torunarigha (but for his dad), Sennenger also belong to that class.
Iwobi and Aina would have "loved" to play for England. Granted they talked about playing for Nigeria as children. In both cases, invites stopped coming from England, and that factor contributed in us getting them to play for us.

Even Balogun said if Germany came for him it would have been hard to make a decision. And I've been saying this on this thread.. It's not a matter of patriotism at that stage but important difficult professional decision. It's not easy to turn down big countries for Nigeria outrightly. And some of us expect these boys to turn down other countries (when those countries are showing interest in them) for us at the preliminary stage.

Uduokhai's case is no different. If Germany shows seriousness it will be very difficult for us to get him.

Kog45:
Yea I read it but he preferred Germany, am not castigating him but u know what we need players like Iwobi,Aina,Balogun, Ekong who already show their readiness before we even approach them

Oh really? didn't see that.. only read about they said an african team, then later a European country.
Do you know the European team?

soetanoreoluwa:
NFF is playing playing Tunisia... In November... Think I posted it already... I Will prefer Morocco or Egypt to Tunisia...

Of course the friendlies will come handy. Let's talk November friendlies

soetanoreoluwa:
AFCON 2019 Qualifiers Claims Super Eagles Proposed Friendly Games In Asia

https://i1.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_3646.jpg?w=720

The Super Eagles of Nigeria planned Friendly games in Asia against probably South Korea and China has been called off according to a representative of the match agent of the Nigeria Football Federation ( NFF) .

A representative of Eurodata, the match agents in charge of the Super Eagles friendly games said plans were already at an advance stage to play two games in Asia with China and South Korea the most likely option.

However the plans have now been cancelled as the FIFA free day for the month of March will be when the Super Eagles will take on Seychelles in the race to be at AFCON 2019.

” The games in Asia are as good as off unless CAF postpones the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers, because FIFA rules says you can play games during the international break as long as the distance is not more than 5 hours”, the representative told Owngoalnigeria.com.

” Nigeria are away to Seychelles in the AFCON 2019 Qualifiers , hence the planned friendly games in March won’t hold anymore. Already talks have taken place with China and South Korea but the games are now off”.


Osas Mahawi

http://owngoalnigeria.com/2017/10/11/afcon-2019-qualifiers-claims-super-eagles-proposed-friendly-games-in-asia/

Listen up all ye England faithfuls! lol

Mujtahida:
Nigeria October 11,2017
EAGLES NEWBIE OLA AINA BOAST – SUPER EAGLES CAN BEAT ENGLAND AT RUSSIA 2018 WORLD CUP

Freshly capped Nigeria senior international defender Ola Aina says Super Eagles are capable of beating the Three Lions of England if both teams meet at the World Cup next-door year in Russia.
https://i1.wp.com/owngoalnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_3684.jpg
Aina who represented England at various youth levels before switching allegiance to Nigeria made his debut for Nigeria in the 1-0 win over Zambia last weekend, which sealed their passage to next year World Cup.
Presently out on loan to Hull City from English Premier League champions Chelsea, the recently turned 21 year old said Nigeria have players good enough to beat any team in the world.
”The Super Eagles have the materials to beat any team, I know that if we work hard, we can beat any team at the World Cup, not just England. A team that prepare well can beat any team if they work hard. It’s not just Nigeria beating England “, he said in an interview with Abuja based Nigerian journalist Francis Achi.
”There is no hard feeling playing against England, it’s just a game. They are my friends and I play against my friends every week in England “, he concluded.
He rounded up by praising the atmosphere in the camp of the Super Eagles and also appreciated the fans for their support during the course of the 1-0 win over Zambia.
Osas Mahawi

FLASH BACK: FOREIGN-BRED SPEAK

---

Exclusive Interview – New Wolfsburg Signing Uduokhai Picks Germany Ahead Of Nigeria
July 1, 20170573

https://www.fupa.net/fupa/images/photo/big/felix-uduokhai-281710_1.jpg
Picture credits:Fupa.net

Highly rated 1860 Munich 19 year old German-Nigerian defender Ohis Felix Uduokhai says his dream is to play for the senior national team of Germany.

Rumoured to as one of the players coach of the Nigeria senior national team Gernot Rohr is eyeing for a call up to the Nigeria team in the future, Uduokhai has revealed his intentions to progress through the youth ranks with Germany.

Already he has represented Germany at U19 and 20 levels and according to the centre back, he is focused on playing for the senior team in the future.

He made this known during an interview with Deutscher fussball-Bund picked up by Owngoalnigeria.com online editor.

DFB.de: The sporting success of the main character seems to be something that you and your team share. How are you feeling about how you have started the new year?

Uduokhai: We are of course very pleased to have started off with a win against Fürth. You never know how quickly you will get going after a time away and the result was positive for us.

DONT MISS ==> Vincent Enyeama Retirement Date Draws Near As Lille Line Up Replacement
DFB.de: New head coach Victor Pereira has installed a three-man defensive system. How are you adapting to the new setup?

Uduokhai: Even though we occasionally played with three or five at the back before the winter break, a new coach obviously brings new ideas. The first game of that is never easy and we worked very hard for it, and hopefully we will improve the smaller details as we continue.

DFB.de: So far you have played for both the U19 and U20 national teams. Do you see yourself featuring for the senior team?

Uduokhai: I am delighted with every call-up to the youth sides. It is a real honour for me. Every kid dreams of one day playing for the national team and it is an ambition I share.

DFB.de: Why do you wear the shirt number 17?

Uduokhair: I was looking for a number and it was free! Jerome Boateng wearing 17 had no bearing on my picking it. Despite that, I of course want to follow in the footsteps of the best defenders in the world and Boateng is excellent at opening up the play from deep, as is Ramos and before them Puyol. With them I see how much I can still learn.

DONT MISS ==> Why Wenger Omitted Iwobi From His Official List For UEFA Champions League
DFB.de: Now, onto the DFB Cup. This competition must have quite the special significance for you?

Uduokhair: The game against Würzburg Kickers was my first in the starting eleven, which brought a lot of emotions together. The anticipation before the game, the game itself, the shootout, scoring my own kick and the team winning – I have nothing but positive memories of the DFB Cup.

First published on the 6th of February 2017.

Source: OwnGoalNigeria

God bless you too bro!

soetanoreoluwa:
... Thank you... Actually tried it and it works... I really appreciate the additional info... God bless


I will try that of text.. It seems I have done it before not sure but I will get it a trial..