Crystal Palace player, Eberechi Eze, has revealed that he chose the Three Lions of England over the Super Eagles of Nigeria because it was the best decision.
He said he consulted his family, including his wife, adding that playing for England is the highest level of of football.
Eze also stated that he has no regrets in choosing England over Nigeria after accepting England’s coach, Gareth Southgate’s call-up to the Three Lions squad for this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Eze is hoping to make his senior debut after a sterling performance of the domestic campaign with Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
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The 24-year-old netted six times in his final 10 appearances as Palace stood under interim boss Roy Hodgson to comfortably avoid relegation.
Eze was born in south London to Nigerian parents and although he represented England at Under-20 and Under-21 level, former Nigerian Football Federation President, Amaju Pinnick, met with him in December 2019 to convince him to play for Nigeria.
Pinnick, after the meeting, stated, “I am confidently hopeful that he will play for Nigeria soon.”
Eze, consequently resolved to join England, as he explain the factors in his decision at a news conference on Tuesday:
“[It was] more just speaking to the people around me, my family, my wife, getting good advice from the people around, trying to think what is the best decision for myself and my career,” Eze said.
“We think that this is the best one. It is a big opportunity for me, it is the highest level of football. I look at it with no regret at all.
“It is the highest level of football, you want to test yourself against that, you want to be in that and you can see from the quality of the team, where they are getting to, the confidence they are playing with, it is incredible. So, being part of that is big.
“I received the call and I felt it was the right decision to make and I am very, very happy to be here.”
Eze also disclosed that the motivation he took from missing out on a place at Euro 2020 through injury.
Southgate confirmed in May that Eze would have been part of his provisional squad for the delayed tournament two years ago if he had not suffered an Achilles tendon injury.
Eze learned of the call-up moments after sustaining the injury and he said: “It is hard to put into words, I look at things a bit differently, I saw that as ‘I am on the right trajectory’ although it is a sad situation I was in. No-one wants to be injured but I saw that as ‘this is the level that you can get to’ so I put my mind right, focus on my rehab. It gave me the motivation to keep going.”
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