Leicester City’s winger, Ademola Lookman is excited to be joining the Super Eagles ahead of this month’s World Cup play-off qualification game against Ghana.
Lookman has previously represented England at cadet level, and won the U-20 World Cup with them, but he applied to FIFA recently for a change of nationality having previously turned down two requests from Nigeria to represent the country of his parents.
His request was finally approved by FIFA in February, and Nigeria coach Austin Eguavoen wasted no time in naming Lookman in his provisional list of 32 players for the two-legged World Cup qualifying playoff against West African rivals Ghana.
“And so it begins,” the forward tweeted after the squad list was released by the NFF. “My first call up and I can’t wait to represent my country. See you soon, Naija.”
Lookman, on loan at Leicester from German Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, is not the only first-time invitee in the squad. Former U-17 forward, Akinkunmi Amoo has also been handed a call up. Amoo, who plays in Denmark for FC Copenhagen, has impressed this season.
But more importantly, Eguavoen now has the full complement of players he was missing from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Forwards Victor Osimhen, Odion Ighalo and Emmanuel Dennis return to the squad after their clubs refused to release them for the Nations Cup.
Also returning are Rangers defenders Leon Balogun and Calvin Bassey. Balogun missed the AFCON with a late injury while Bassey was left out.
Eguavoen has also bolstered his midfield with Peter Etebo, who has only just returned to action after sustaining a knee injury in October.
The recalls see AFCON squad members Chidozie Awaziem, Taiwo Awoniyi and Paul Onuachu drop to the standby list, where they are joined by surprise call up Ogenyi Onazi. The former Super Eagles vice-captain has been frozen out of the squad since 2018, when he played in an AFCON qualifier against Seychelles.
Credit: punchng.com
