As Nigerian wonderkid, Tammy Abraham turns down an invitation to represent his country and instead chose to play for England, a writer has traced the fate of others who made the same decision as him.
Tammy Abraham
Tammy Abraham, the Chelsea forward, who has been on loan at Swansea City, was recently the most-sought-after ‘bride’ in the Nigerian football family following his form at the Liberty Stadium where he has netted five times in 10 matches.
Abraham is from Delta State, as Amaju Pinnick, the NFF president, earlier confirmed that he grew up with his father in the same neighbourhood in Delta. But the young talent, in September, poured cold water on Nigeria’s quest to have him after he met with Pinnick at Wembley during Swansea’s match against Tottenham Hotspur, declaring that he was open to playing for England not Nigeria.
“I can confirm I met the president of NFF after our game against Tottenham at Wembley given he is a friend of my father. However, any suggestion that I have made a decision to change my international representation is incorrect and wide off the mark. I have informed the FA that I remain available for selection for England.”
Consequently, Gareth Southgate, the England coach, realising that the trio of Victor Moses, Alex Iwobi and Ola Aina had slipped off their hand, handed a call-up to Tammy in their upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Germany. Southgate certainly does not need Tammy now. given so many established options in the Three Lions’ striking position, with Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge etc holding sway but the FA may be afraid of losing him.
Many Nigerians had thought that the young forward would learn from John Fashanu and others, who dumped Nigeria for England and other countries in adventures they lived to regret, even though in a recent interview, Fashanu admitted that he presented himself for selection but was rejected by the then national team coach. Fashanu, even after scoring over 100 goals for Wimbledon in an eight-year career, was capped only two times by England.
John Salako, another Nigerian who never played for the country was capped only ones by England and was prevented from representing Nigeria. He played in Crystal Palace, Coventry City and Charlton Athletic, among others and regretted rejecting Nigerian offer. Patrick Owomoyela was born to a Nigerian father and a German mother. He opted to play for Germany instead of Nigeria. He was used in the 2005 FIFA Confederation Cup but was left out of the 2006 World Cup squad, which ended his international career.
The list is endless and replete with such instances like Ugo Ehiogu, who dumped Nigeria for England, only to be dumped when it mattered most. One only hopes that the fate of Tammy will not be like that and he will never live to regret his choice because at the World Cup, Southgate may not call up more than five strikers and Tammy may not make it whereas if he had heeded Nigeria’s call and barring any injury, he will be a sure bet for the World Cup in Russia.
-The Independent