Former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori says he is proud of his Nigerian heritage despite the fact that he is yet to play for Nigeria at any level since the start of his career.
Now at AC Milan where he is earning rave reviews, the 23 year old started his international career with Canada before switching allegiance to England where he went on to play for their senior team.
Since playing for England in 2019, he is yet to get another call up but many are of the opinion that his fine form for AC Milan where they have conceded just once in three games will open the door for him to make a comeback to the English senior team.
It appears like Tomori is already weighing up his option of switching nationality if he fails to make the cut with the English side with the World Cup 2022 drawing near. He spoke glowingly about his Nigerian roots in an interview with DAZN.
Approached by Nigeria before his only game for England in 2019, he said he feels very Nigerian base on how he was brought up. Checks by OwnGoalNigeria.comcan however confirm that his chances of switching allegiance to Nigeria looks thin if not impossible despite the new rules by FIFA.
Below is extract from the interview:
On his name: “It is of Nigerian derivation. My first name means ‘God has filled me with joy’. It is a phrase: in Nigeria, parents often choose a phrase that gives the child a name.”
On his nationality: “I feel very Nigerian. When I was little my parents spoke to me in Youruba, the ethnic group I belonged to. My favourite food is Jollof rice, a kind of rice stew; I don’t know how to describe it, but it is a very tasty dish, very African, very strong.”
On moving to Canada: “When my mother was 22-23, my father moved to England and my mom took a trip to Canada to see a friend; my father visited her, they were already together by that point and I was born. I moved to England as a child, even though I returned to Canada every year; I have many family friends there: when I think of Canada, only good things come to mind.
On the national team: “At first I was playing for Canada. I played the first game in Mexico, then the following March against England in England; there were many of my team-mates and friends, including Aina and Rashford: we had played together on Saturday and then I challenged them with the national team, and we also won.”
On his friendship with Tammy Abraham of Roma: “I’m very happy for him. We talk almost every day. We started playing for Chelsea when I was 7 and then we got to the First Team: that’s where you want to go when you grow up , but you don’t know if it will ever happen. I remember when I scored the first goal and he scored a hat-trick: it was the best day of our life.
