Nigerian Flying Eagles coach, Paul Aigbogun, is checking out on several Nigerian players who were born in England, as he aims to build a solid squad for this year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup starting in Poland next week.
Aigbogun and his men are hitting the final leg of their pre- World Cup build-up in Germany and after seeing his side edged 2-1 by fellow Poland- bound Saudi Arabia U20 team in Vienna, Austria, the coach does not want to take chance in the quest of landing Nigeria its first title at this level.
The team had a low key warm up encounter with German lower division side, SpVgg Greuther Fürth, on Wednesday and the build up test came after top-flight German Bundesliga outfit, TSG Hoffenheim, pulled out of an earlier scheduled fixture between their youth team and Aigbogun’s side, but the Flying Eagles were lucky to get an alternative at short notice.
It was another opportunity for Aigbogun to check out his array of home-based players, alongside those from clubs in Europe, including four that were born, bred and groomed in England.
The lot from Queensland, who have settled in with the Flying Eagles at their base in Ingolstadt, Germany include Bournemouth midfielder, Nnamdi Ofoborh, who is in his second stint with Aigbogun’s team.
Also with the squad in Bad Gögging are the brothers from Manchester City, Tom and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, Watford’s Jayden Bennetts, Everton’s Korede Adedoyin, West Ham United’s Daniel Toma and Mashkur Tagwai from Shelley Community FC in Huddersfield. Of the lot, though, the biggest talking point has been Tom Dele-Bashiru, who already has a couple of senior outings with Man City, following his debut for The Citizens’ main team at 18, but could not get any outing with the squad this season due to contract issues at Etihad Stadium.
