The number of Nigerian footballers outside playing for other countries keeps increasing on a daily while the Super Eagles management keeps neglecting the ones in the country. Most of the reason these players leaves the country to play for other countries could be traced to the fact that we do not appreciate what we have at hand.
The likes of Emmanuel Adebayo, who played and captained the Togolese national team till he retired, first came to Nigeria but was rejected and told his height is not for football. Also, Real Madrid defender who is currently the captain of Austria David Alaba is a full Nigerian, but because of corruption from the parts of the Nigerian Football Federation, he had to leave the country.
According to reports, it was said that he was asked to pay so he would be included in the Nigeria football team the time he came. These are a few from the many testimonies we hear of how coaches chase players away with money only to come begging them again to come back.
Names of Nigerian Footballers Playing For Other Countries
In this article we will look at four players that are Nigerians but are currently play for other countries, the first on our list is Emmanuel Sarki who plays for Haiti national team.
Emmanuel Sarki is one player that was so close to joining the Super Eagles but blacked in the last stage ag¥fter he was asked to pay £5,000 for him to get senior national team call up. Saki was in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland and the Nigeria national under-20 football team at African U-20 Championship as well. He scored two goals for the eventual runners up.
Sarki chose to represent his mother country Haiti as his football country and stated that his decision was taken because the Nigerian Football Association had asked him to pay money to be included in the squad.
The next person on our list is Angelo Ogbonna (Italy)
Anglo Ogbonna, who plays for English Premier League side West Ham United was one of the talents that the Super Eagles had believed would join them its ranks and increase its defensive prowess, but the full-born Nigerian decided to play for Italy, where his immigrants’ parents had given birth to him.
However, he has only featured for Italy for all the troubles and may likely not be so fond of his decision anymore.
Manuel Akanji (Switzerland)
Another player on our list is Manuel Akanji, who is a Swiss professional footballer and a highly rated defender in Borussia Dortmund. The 26-year-old defender is known for his immaculate ability to read games, and this has helped him establish dominance in both his club and country football team.
While he is widely known for his Swiss career, only a few know that Akanji is a Nigerian. He was born to a Nigerian father, Abimbola Akanji and a Swiss mother, Isabel Akanji.
The last person on our list is Ikechi Anya, who plays for Scotland. Ikechi is one of the few players who does not play for any of his parents’ countries despite being from different nationalities.
The Scott international was born to a Nigerian father and Romanian mother but chose to play for his birth country. Ikechi played his best professional with Watford. He is currently affiliated with Derby County, where he gets reasonable game time.
