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African Football HQ: Should Adebayor, Alli have played for Nigeria?
The podcast revisit some of the stars who the Super Eagles missed out on, and profile a few who they cannot turn down
It’s a packed episode of the African Football HQ podcast this weekend, as Ed Dove and Malek Shafei discuss the biggest stories in the world of African football.
As well as comparing Riyad Mahrez and Hakim Ziyech following their recent performances for Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, the pod also assess Uganda’s decision to reportedly suspend head coach Johnny McKinstry.
Considering the Cranes still have their final two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers to play for, it appears to be a risky move by the East African heavyweights.
You’ll have to wait until next week’s AFHQ Unplugged to hear Shafei discuss the progress of Pitso Mosimane at Al-Ahly, but in the meantime, we take an in-depth look at the players Nigeria have missed out on and the players they absolutely must recruit.
Recently, Jamal Musiala became the latest player to announce that he wasn’t planning to represent the Super Eagles, with the Bayern Munich wonderkid throwing his hat into the ring with Germany.
Tosin Adarabioyo appears likely to follow in his footsteps in snubbing Nigeria. So impressive in the Premier League with Fulham this season, the centre-back had been tipped for a future with the West African giants, but instead, has made noises about wanting to represent England at the European Championships.
He looks likely to be the latest performer to reject the chance of turning out for the Eagles, joining into an illustrious list of star men who never put on the famous green.
David Alaba and Emmanuel Adebayor are two of the biggest names to have opted for international careers with other countries—Germany and Togo respectively—rather than Nigeria.
Alaba would have certainly solved some of Nigeria’s left-back problems, while imagine what Adebayor could have achieved alongside the likes of Yakubu or Obafemi Martins up top.
Elsewhere, England duo Dele Alli and Ross Barkley—both of whom could represent England at the Euros this summer—could have turned out for Nigeria, while the likes of Ugo Ehiogu and Gabby Agbonlahor achieved little with the Three Lions after opting to represent the European giants.
John Salako, John Fashanu and Dennis Aogo are some of the other players who could have represented the Eagles, while Shafei closes the segment by urging Nigeria to do all they can to recruit Michael Olise of Reading.
