Super Eagles forward Alex Iwobi says he has no regrets playing for Nigeria ahead of England at international level.
The 24-year-old switched allegiance to Nigeria in 2015, after representing England at youth levels.
“I will always have my respect for England. When I played for them, they gave (me) a great opportunity, they treated me very well,” Iwobi said during a recent interview on Instagram.
“However, I feel like I am a true Nigerian, I grew up in the Nigerian culture and when I had the opportunity to go back, I felt more at home playing for Nigeria. I felt at home playing for England as well.
“Of course, it was difficult (picking Nigeria over England) because I was very comfortable playing for England, like it’s where I’ve grown up. I grew up in the English roots, so I knew how the system works,” Iwobi added.
“But when I had the opportunity to go and trial for the (Nigerian) U-23s is when I thought there was a lot of love for football – the way I was treated there – and these times I didn’t have the profile I have today. I was really excited to play for the U-23s.
“Even though the organisation may be a bit different to England, I really enjoy it. Even to this day I have no regrets.”
Iwobi admitted that the international friendly against Brazil in Singapore in 2019 was his most difficult game in an Eagles shirt.
“I try to give a 100 per cent as much as I can, if it is not meant to be it is not meant to be, but the most difficult was the recent game against Brazil,” he stated.
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“Normally we have a lot of possession of the ball because we have a lot of good players that are able to keep the ball.
“But we didn’t have the ball as much as we would have liked and we were playing in conditions in Singapore where it was so hot and we were also playing against class players, it was difficult.
“It’s almost like it was entirely defence and we were trying to hit them on the counterattack.”
