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Amaju Pinnick, the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation, talked about his experience convincing Nigerian players who live in England to play for the Super Eagles.
The Super Eagles of Nigeria finished second in the recently concluded AFCON 2023 tournament after being defeated by Ivory Coast.
Jose Peseiro’s team, which consists of foreign Nigerian players, earned a lot of recognition for their performance at the AFCON 2023.
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However, their presence in the team did not come easy, as it took a lot of convincing to entice the players to play for Nigeria.
Pinnick on foreign players
During his time, Pinnick revealed that persuading players such as Ademola Lookman and Alex Iwobi to play for the Super Eagles was a difficult undertaking.
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Lookman switched to the Super Eagles in 2022 after having played at different levels for England's junior teams.
Since then, he has established himself as a key member of the team, providing five goals and four assists.
Pinnick mentioned the dynamics and political complexities in an interview with ThisDay to highlight the difficulties in facilitating these player swaps.
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According to reports from Soccernet, “It is also true that I was instrumental to some of the players switching to Nigeria.
“Ademola Lookman for example, it was hell for us bringing him to Nigeria. There was a lot of politics involved. A lot of intrigues and family dynamism. Same for [Alex] Iwobi.
“But like I said earlier, football is a continuum. I will not say I brought them because today they are asset to the federation.“ Pinnick stated.
Pinnick underlined the value of these players to the Nigerian national team despite the challenges, stressing their contributions to the group's accomplishments.
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