Emeka Nweze
There is an ongoing debate going on about Tammy Abraham’s decision to pick England over Nigeria for his senior international career. Several people have pointed to the failed careers of both past and present players who have or still regret choosing to represent England over Nigeria as a warning to the Chelsea forward. Abraham will aim to emulate the success of Dele Ali who has remained a constant feature for the three lions.
But who exactly are those players whose decisions to snub the Super Eagles turned out to be a huge mistake? See six of them here
John Fashanu
John Fashanu is a retired professional footballer who played as a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995. He was also capped twice at senior level by England, but failed to score on either occasion. As a result of his Nigerian heritage, Fashanu was eligible to represent Nigeria at internationl level, however he decided to try his luck with the three lions. Unfortunately, he only managed to play twice at senior level for England, where he failed to score on both occasions. Since retiring, Fashanu has expressed regret for not playing for his father land,
Chris Armstrong
Christopher Peter Armstrong is another footballer who rejected Nigeria in a failed bid represent England. Armstrong was tracked by Nigeria, Wales and Republic of Ireland but rejected all. Unfortunately for him however, he only managed one cap for England B and didn’t feature at all the one time he was called-up to the senior squad.
Ugo Ehiogu
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Ugochuku Ehiogu was an English professional footballer who played as a centre back from 1989 to 2009. In April 1993, Ehiogu became the first black player to captain an England team in a competitive match, in a game for the England U21 team against the Netherlands. however, he only earned 4 international caps in friendly games. Before his death in 2017, Ehiogu served as coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team.
Gabriel Agbolahon
Gabriel Agbolahon is more recognised for his years with Aston Villa than his international career. Agbolahan was first called-up for the U-20 squad in September 2006 for a match against Rwanda, rejected the call. He chose to represent England but unfortunately that didn’t go so well as he only managed to get three caps between 2008 and 2009.
Onuoha
Chinedum “Nedum” Onuoha is a former Manchester City player who now plies his trade in Real Salt Lak in the MLS. Having represented England at Under-21 level, Onuoha received an international callup from Nigeria on March 2007, but announced he would like to represent England at full international level. However, his desire didn’t come to pass as he failed to earn any cap for England.
Jordan Ibe
Jordan Ibe who currently plays for Premiere League side Bournemouth, first came under the radar of Nigeria in February 2015 when the NFF began monitoring him. He eventually received a call from coach Sunday Oliseh in August of that same year but weeks after the call Ibe announced that he preferred to play with the England setup. This has however not gone to plan as he is still yet to receive a call-up to the England senior squad.
