Cercle Brugge of Belgium striker, Ike Ugbo has confessed that the desire to play at the World Cup ids the biggest motivation behind his decision to switch allegiance from England to Nigeria, megasportsarena.com reports.
In the wake of his confirmation of an ongoing process to officially make him eligible for the Super Eagles this year, Ugbo admitted that he pledged his international future to Nigeria over both England and France with a view to joining the three-time African champions at the World Cup.
He went on to reveal that he is already working towards acquiring his clearance for the switch in allegiance from world football governing body, FIFA, following earlier reports that the lad born in London to Nigerian parents had started the process of filing for the change of national team.
This is necessary for the 22-year-old Ugbo, as he had played a number of competitive matches for England’s under-17 national team, but the lad on loan from Chelsea, who also sent him to Roda JC Kerkrade of Holland last season, is now hoping the paperwork at FIFA will be completed before Nigeria’s next 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers with Benin Republic and Lesotho.
Ugbo, who currently has 10 goals in 16 appearances for Cercle Brugge in the Belgian top-flight, is now the third former England youth international from Chelsea to switch allegiance to Nigeria, after Victor Moses and Ola Aina.
Having earlier held formal talks with top shots of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in London before the Super Eagles’ pre-World Cup friendly with Serbia in March 2018, Ugbo is now hoping to finally get his aspirations come through, even as he admitted he hopes to don the green-and-white jersey at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Ugbo told Het Laatste Nieuws: “The paperwork is not quite in order yet, but my agent is working on it. Playing a World Cup is every footballer’s dream, isn’t it?”
