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‘I am proud to be a Nigerian player’ – Akpoguma reacts after Super Eagles debut
The 25-year-old defender has expressed his delight after making his first appearance for the West Africans
Hoffenheim centre-back Kevin Akpoguma has revealed he is proud to make his debut for the Nigeria national team.
The 25-year-old was born to a German mother and a Nigerian father which makes him eligible to represent both countries.
He previously starred for Germany at youth level before committing his international future to the West Africans after meeting with Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr.
He was subsequently invited to the Nigeria camp, preparing for a friendly against the Desert Foxes as he awaited his clearance from Fifa.
The defender got the green light to represent the three-time African champions before their game against Algeria in Austria on Friday.
Akpoguma was afforded his first Super Eagles appearance in the encounter, replacing Twente defender Tyronne Ebuehi after the hour mark.
The centre-back gave a good account of himself but his effort was not enough to help the West African country avoid defeat.
Akpoguma has expressed his joy to make his debut for Nigeria and looks forward to better days with the Super Eagles.
“I’m very impressed and proud to be a Nigerian player fully. I’m looking forward to the best games already,” Akpoguma told the media.
“We lost [against Algeria] but we tried our best to get a point from the game because in the last 10 minutes we pressured them well but we, however, failed to get the needed equalizer.”
Nigeria will next take on Tunisia in another friendly on Tuesday before slugging it out against Sierra Leone in an African Cup of Nations qualifying game in November.
Akpoguma hopes the Super Eagles can learn from their defeat against Algeria and secure positive results in their next outings.
“It’s just a test game and I am sure the coaches have seen what we can improve on,” he continued.
“So, now we are looking forward to our next game and most importantly our Afcon qualifiers next month,” he concluded.
Akpoguma is one of the key members of Hoffenheim and has featured in more than 30 games for the side across all competitions since his arrival at the club in 2015.
