Why Crystal Palace star Eze must choose to play for the Super Eagles over England

The former president of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Pinnick approached Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze sometime in 2017 to convince him to play for the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Eze himself was available for an international friendly in London against Burina Fasi but sadly the game failed to hold.

Since then, the creative midfielder has looked forward to playing for the Three Lions of England at the international level.

Eze was reportedly billed to be part of the England squad for the Euro 2020 tournament which was held a year later due to the global lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus. 

Unfortunately, he copped an injury at his club prior to the official release of the team and was not included by coach Gareth Southgate. 

The player also was not named in the final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar despite making it to the provisional squad of 55. 

These strings of ill-luck with the English does not call for derision from those who are not fans of the English team. 

However, perhaps faith is at work here and gradually preparing a pathway for Eze to fulfill his international future with Nigeria- the country of his origin. 

Eze will make a great addition to the Nigeria side and add plenty of stardust to the team. 

One factor that is pertinent to note is that the Palace star will be the golden fish, the star boy, the poster boy, the playmaker and the conductor-in-chief of the Nigerian midfield  while he will only be regarded as merely 'one of them' in the English team. 

While there are undoubtedly great benefits to play for England especially at the senior level, the first point to note is that the players of African descent has had the chance to earn good money strutting their talents in the Premier League. 

The issue of popularity, visibility and success are not a problem - the Premier League is the world's biggest football league. 

Despite the undeniable leadership and administrative problems bedeviling Nigerian football, representing Nigeria in international level is the best way for the creative midfield genius to realize his ambition of gaining global recognition as one of Africa's biggest football talents. 

Should Eze choose not to play for England at the senior level, he may eventually forgo some of the financial benefits said to be entitled past national team football players but he would have won for himself the chance to truly become one of Africa's biggest football icons. 

George Weah (current President of Liberia) became the first African to win the Ballon d'Or title in 1995. He did not play for the USA like his son Timothy Weah or indeed any other country in Europe. 

Eze has the makings of becoming a star in the mold of Weah, Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Samuel Eto, Didier Drogba etc. 

There was an effort to speak with him by the NFF for the second time to change his allegiance back in March just before the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoffs against Ghana. 

Nigeria eventually did not qualify for Qatar 2022. 

Ghana nicked the ticket which necessitated the advances made to the likes of Inaki Williams of Athletic Bilbao and Tariq Lamptey of Brighton & Hove to choose Ghana over Spain and England respectively where they might struggle to impress or even never get an opportunity to play at the global level. 

As stated earlier on this piece, Eze could be the most important midfield player for Nigeria. He will be celebrated as the creator-in-chief along with the likes of Alex Iwobi and perhaps become the missing puzzle in the Eagles number 10 role since the retirement of Okocha. 

The pains of the World Cup miss will soon blow over. The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations might in fact be the best in terms of quality of teams and performances following the impressive showings of African teams at the Qatar 2022 tournament. 

Eze. You could become a king as your name suggests. Do it playing for your country of origin, Nigeria. 

Izuchukwu Michael

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