Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo has explained during an interview why he chose the Oranje at the expense of Togo which is the country of his father Johnny Gakpo.

The 23-year old has been instrumental for Netherlands during the last World Cup in Qatar where the Oranje went on until the quarterfinals before bowing to future winner Argentina.

Gakpo scored 3 goals in 5 appearances during his first ever World Cup participation.

Cody Gakpo is born to a Togolese father with Ghanaian roots called Johnny who even played for Togo 1st Division side Entente II during his footballing career and a Dutch mother Annk Gakpo.

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This makes him eligible to represent Togo at international level, but this never happened.

Speaking to Voetbal on his national team choice, Cody Gakpo explained why he is not playing for the Sparrow Hawks.

“I don’t follow the news in Togo closely. My father does,” the New Liverpool signing said.

“Where he first watched everything on television, he now follows the news and various other programmes on Togolese television via the internet.

“I only watch the matches of the national team with my father. He has several shirts from the national team, but he does not wear them during the matches. I regularly wore one of his shirts when I played football on the square in our neighbourhood as a child.

“Personally, I have not had any contact [from Togo]. My choice for the Netherlands was not difficult. [His agent] Kees [Ploegsma Jr] made this known honestly and we have not heard anything since. Unfortunately, I don’t speak the language.”