Glasgow Rangers fullback Calvin Bassey has admitted that he had not been to Nigeria for approximately twenty years before his trip to Lagos to link up with the national team for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against Central African Republic in October.
The 21-year-old earned a shock but merited call-up for the back-to-back matches but was not utilized by manager Gernot Rohr against the Wild Beasts with SC Paderborn's Jamilu Collins getting the nod over him.
Bassey would have felt at home in the Super Eagles camp due to the presence of two of his teammates at club level, Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun.
In addition, it is known that the Italian-born defender trained with Wilfred Ndidi and Kelechi Iheanacho during his time with Leicester City and he's also familiar with Foxes old boy Ahmed Musa.
Reflecting on his experience with the Nigeria national team, Bassey told Rangers TV : "It was good and nice. Obviously I have been working so hard and it was sort of nice and a treat to go away with the national team.
"It was a nice experience, I hadn't been back since I was like eleven months or something, so it was all new to me.
"I was just happy to get the call-up really".
Given that Bassey was on media duties on Friday and Balogun is still sidelined, he will certainly play a role in Rangers' Scottish Premiership meeting with Dundee this afternoon.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from allnigeriasoccer.com
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