As the news of Denmark born midfielder Phillip Billing picking the Scandinavian country over Nigeria hits the headlines, I am left wondering whether Super Eagles fans feel perturbed about his decision.
If nothing, it was quite refreshing seeing him speak out his decision with much frankness.
The young man says he feels ‘Danish’ so that is where his heart is. According to Shakespeare ‘to thine own self be true’.
What I want is for other dual nationality players linked to Nigeria to come out speedily (once and for all) to say where their heart lie so we can focus attention else.
This Eberechi Eze’s story stayed too long in the headlines for my liken. I wish people like that should do a Phillip Billing and come out to pledge their allegiance somewhere else and stop wasting our time.
I was rather angry at the time the way German born Sidney Sam wasted our time for months only to eventually pledge his allegiance for Germany and then go on to manage a mammoth 5 caps for his country of choice before being discarded like a used toilet paper. At 32 (same age a Leon Balogun), he would still be a Nigeria international by now with over 20 caps under his belt and a teeming army of Super Eagles fans across the globe because (to be honest) the guy is a very decent player.
Instead of trying to lure standard players like Phillip Billing, I don’t know why we can’t look inwards and develop players like Ibrahim Olawoyin of Enugu Rangers in the NPFL.
The winger-cum-attacking midfielder has been spellbinding in the NPFL this season with performances that are as compelling as they are riveting.
He dribbles opposition players as if they aren’t there often with end product that will just take your breath away.
Trust me, if we are painstaking in seeking out and nurturing more talents for Nigeria like this Olawoyin, we will only then have to limit our search for dual nationality players to only those of supreme quality.