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West Ham United of England striker, Mipo Odubeko has shunned overtures from his parents for him to play for Nigeria at senior international level, as he has opted for Republic of Ireland instead, megasportsarena.com reports.
Megasportsarena.com gathered on good authority that, while Odubeko’s Nigerian parents preferred seeing him don the Super Eagles’ jersey, the youngster has been moved by his affinity with coaches and colleagues from Ireland in opting for an international future with the nation of his birth.
Consequently, Odubeko is set to become the next Nigerian-born lad to play for Eire, though it means he would also be snubbing the possibility of playing for England, for which he became eligible after he relocated there with his parents in August 2015 to join Manchester City.
It means the 19-year-old Odubeko, who is back at West Ham after struggling at Huddersfield Town, where he made six appearances off the bench in the first half of the season, takes after Adam Idah and Andrew Omobamidele of Norwich City, Chiedozie Ogbene (Rotherham United) and Gavin Bazunu (Manchester City), who are all cap-tied by Ireland.
Details of the report by The Irish Examiner added: “Odubeko has opted to represent Republic of Ireland at international level after recent talks with U21 manager Jim Crawford.
“Previously he was reluctant to commit his international future to Ireland after he was excluded from their squad to the 2019 European U17 Championship, and withdrew from an U21 squad last March, claiming that he recently recovered from injury and had a busy schedule.
“Eight months ago, Odubeko’s family wanted him to represent the Nigeria national teams and the talented center forward was open to picking the Super Eagles over the Three Lions and The Boys in Green, but it appears his head has been turned by the Football Association of Ireland.”
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