Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze has revealed factors that led to his decision to play for England and not Nigeria on the international scene.
Born in Greenwich, Greater London to Nigerian parents, Eze had the opportunity to feature for the Super Eagles despite having featured for England’s U20 and U21 sides. In 2019, the then Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick met with Eze in an attempt to persuade him to switch his allegiance to Nigeria.
However, in May 2021, Eze was called up to the senior England squad for the first time, as part of coach Gareth Southgate’s 33-man provisional squad for Euro 2020, but on the same day was injured during a training session. The 24-year-old Eze is now part of Southgates’ squad for Euro qualifiers and says he has no regrets for accepting the call to represent The Three Lions.
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“[It was] more just speaking to the people around me, my family, my wife, getting good advice from the people around, trying to think what is the best decision for myself and my career,” Eze said as quoted by ESPN.
“We think that this is the best one. It is a big opportunity for me; it is the highest level of football. I look at it with no regret at all.
“It is the highest level of football, you want to test yourself against that, you want to be in that and you can see from the quality of the team, where they are getting to, the confidence they are playing with, it is incredible. So, being part of that is big.
“I received the call and I felt it was the right decision to make and I am very, very happy to be here.”
Eze will hope to make his debut for the Three Lions as they travel to Malta on Friday before hosting North Macedonia in Manchester on Tuesday.