The Super Eagles of Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations made history when for the first time in a competitive tournament game the team fielded a back five of players with dual nationality, OwnGoalNigeria.comreports.
In the game against South Africa, the team played in the 3-4-3 formation that requires having three centre backs and in that game the trio of Calvin Bassey, William Troost-Ekong and Semi Ajayi were picked by Jose Peseiro.
The system which also has provisions for two wingbacks who function as part of a back five without the ball also and Bright Osayi-Samuel and Ola Aina. Meaning all back five have dual nationality with Ekong eligible for not just England like the aforementioned quartet but also the Netherlands.
One player who has stand out for the team playing either on the right or left side is Ola Aina. The Nottingham Forest defender can easily pass as one of the best full backs at the tournament and not many will object to it.
Aina was a youth international for England up at several youth levels but made the decision to switch to Nigeria in 2017 after failing to make the step up to the main team from the U21. Even at that level the invitation stopped coming.
Revisiting what it took to have Aina switched to Nigeria, former coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr said it was made possible by the desire of the father to have him play for Nigeria at senior level.
” We (Super Eagles) had a camp in England, where we had players train with us. A lot of team having the option of playing for another country or have already played at junior level for another country. I remember Aina very well because he came with his father and we had a very good talk. That was it and here he is”, Rohr said in an exclusive chat with OwnGoalNigeria.com.
Ade Emmanuel
