Montreal Impact of Canada attacker, Orji Okwonkwo has confessed that he is holding a strong dream of one day playing in the English Premier League, but says he will continue playing well wherever he is before a big deal in England comes his way, megasportsarena.com reports.
While also admitting he would love to return to Europe, after Bologna of Italy sent him on loan to Montreal, who compete in USA’ s Major League Soccer (MLS), the Chile 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup gold medalist added that playing regular with the national team will boost his ambitions.
With that in mind, Okwonkwo is now thinking positively of excelling with Nigeria’s under-23 squad, Olympic Eagles at this year’s Africa championship in Egypt, where he believes they stand a good chance of picking top spot.
Victory at the 3rd African U-23 Cup of Nations in Egypt, as well as finishing either second or third, would take Nigeria to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which Okwonkwo says would be another dream come true for him.
The Olympic Eagles won the title at the second edition in Senegal four years ago and Okwonkwo is among the Nigerian lot that began the defence on Saturday against Cote d’Ivoire before facing Zambia and South Africa in their remaining Group B fixtures at Al Salam Stadium.
The top three teams at the eight-nation championship will qualify to represent Africa in the men’s football tournament of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and the 21-year-old Benin-born attacker admits that would be a huge boost to his career and dreams.
Okwonkwo, who has enjoyed a great season in the MLS, where he notched eight goals from 28 appearances for Montreal, is hoping that his performance with the Olympic Eagles in Egypt will lead him closer to his dream of playing in England.
“I might be heading to Europe, off cause, everybody wants to play in England you know, England is my dream league, maybe one day I will play in the league,” Okwonkwo concluded.
Chimaobi Victor@chimas2010
Kelvin Dejiggyman@DeJiggyman