Euro 2024: Italy beat Nigeria to Folorunsho as Napoli midfielder makes stoppage time appearance v Albania 

The Italian Football Federation have won the recruitment battle for Napoli midfielder Michael Folorunsho, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Dual-national player Folorunsho is no longer eligible to represent the Super Eagles after making his debut for defending champions Italy in their come-from-behind 2-1 win over Albania in their opening match of the 2024 European Championship on Saturday, June 15.

By making an appearance at Euro 2024 - his first competitive game for Gli Azzurri - the 26-year-old became cap-tied to his country of birth for life, provided his Italian citizenship is not revoked.

Prior to his competitive debut for the Italians in Dortmund, Folorunsho played in a friendly game against Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 9, 2024.

Against the Albanians, he came off the bench to replace Nicolò Barella in the second minute of second half stoppage time.

Folorunsho is the fourth Italian-born player of Nigerian descent to become cap-tied to the four-time world champions since the turn of the millennium, following in the footsteps of Angelo Ogbonna, Stefano Okaka and Destiny Udogie.

The Rome native was named in Italy's 2024 European Championship season after a remarkable season on loan at Hellas Verona, where he scored five goals and registered an assist in 34 appearances in the Serie A. 

Tottenham Hotspur left-back Destiny Udogie was a strong candidate to be named in Italy's squad for the European Championship but suffered an injury to his left quadriceps in training two months ago. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: figc.it 

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