Michael Olise’s father wants his son to pick Nigeria, but his mother and girlfriend prefer Algeria while his agent fancies France or England
By Kehinde Okeowo
The Nigerian father of Crystal Palaces’ left-footed attacking midfielder, Michael Olise has said he would prefer that his son dons the Nigerian jersey rather than play for his mother’s country Algeria.
Olise is eligible to play for four countries, Nigeria, where his father is from, Algeria, where his mum hails from, France where he was a youth international, and England where he was born.
The 20-year-old was called up to the Super Eagle’s camp by former coach Gernot Rohr, but he declined to honour the call-up and later reports surfaced that he preferred to represent Algeria.
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But with his international future still in the balance and with France or England not keen on bringing him on board yet, Nigeria and Algeria have intensified push to get the 20-year-old ahead of the 2022 World Cup playoffs this month.
Nigeria is expected to play their West African neighbour and arch-rival Ghana, while Algeria will square up against Cameroon for a place in the 2022 Qatar World Cup later in the year.
According to Owngoalnigeria.com, Michael Olise’s father Vincent who was behind the call up to the Nigerian team assured Rohr that his son will play for Nigeria but it wasn’t to be as his agent pull the plug on the move insisting he leaves his options open for now.
Vincent is still keen on his son picking Nigeria over Algeria but his mother and girlfriend who are both from the North African country want him to represent their nation.
A twist in the saga, however, is that his agent does not want him to represent either of these African countries but favours his client playing for either Les Blues of France or The Three Lions of England, even if it means waiting for his chance.