Nigerians will keep an eye on the ongoing German Bundesliga clash between Hoffenheim and Hertha BSC at the Prezero Arena, with exciting winger Chinedu Ekene in line to make his professional debut for the home team, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.
Hoffenheim manager Alfred Schreuder has included Ekene in his matchday 20 but the highly-rated youngster is among the substitutes.
Aged 20, Ekene was heavily courted by the Nigeria Football Federation ahead of the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup and was one of the foreign-born players named in the country's provisional squad for the tournament in Poland.
Born to a German mother and Nigerian father, he suffered an injury before the World Cup, so could not link up with the Nigeria U20 squad at their training camp in Germany.
A former Germany U16 captain, Ekene has played non-binding games for that age group plus the U15 and U17 national teams and could have represented the Flying Eagles at the World Cup without applying for a change of association.
This season, the former Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth-teamer has appeared in 21 matches for Hoffenheim II in the Regionalliga Südwest, logging 1,437 minutes.
Ekene will don the number 37 on the back of his shirt if he enters the game against Hertha BSC as a substitute.
Ifeanyi Emmanuel
Photo Credit : achtzehn99.de
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