After Noni Madueke and Dele Alli, England cap-tie another Nigerian player with a Tottenham connection

The English Football Association has won the recruitment battle for Dominic Solanke,  with the Tottenham Hotspur striker making his competitive debut for the Three Lions in a UEFA Nations League match against Greece on Thursday night, alllnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Seven years after his first appearance for his country of birth, Solanke, sporting the number 21 on the back of his jersey, came off the bench to replace Manchester City star Phil Foden in the 72nd minute of the encounter. 

With the 1966 world champions trailing by a goal, everything indicated that the Chelsea academy product would be handed a competitive debut as Lee Carsley's side were searching for an equalizer 

Shortly after his introduction, Solanke almost found the net with a slick backheel off an Alexander-Arnold cross, but the Greece defence quickly cleared the danger.

Jude Bellingham restored parity with three minutes remaining, cancelling out Vangelis Pavlidis' 48th minute opener, and the Benfica man put his name on the scoresheet again in stoppage time to hand the visitors a win at Wembley Stadium.

Born in Reading, Solanke was eligible for the Super Eagles through his Nigerian father.

Although it was only his second cap for the Three Lions, the 27-year-old is no longer eligible to represent the three-time African champions due to Fifa eligibility rules as he is not an U21 player. 

By making his competitive debut, Solanke is now the third attack-minded player of Nigerian descent with a Tottenham Hotspur connection to be cap-tied to England in recent years, following in the footsteps of Dele Alli and Noni Madueke.  

England has effortlessly come out on top in duels with Nigeria for dual national players, with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham choosing to represent the Three Lions over the Super Eagles, despite being approached by former Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

Photo Credit: tottenhamhotspur.com

Copyright ANS
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