Queens Park Rangers midfielder Eberechi Eze says he is in no rush to decide his international future, reports Completesports.com.
Eze, 21, has represented England at the U-20 and U-21 levels but is still eligible to play for Nigeria.
He trained with the Super Eagles in March 2017 before going ahead to make his debut for the England U-20 team in a 2-1 win against Italy in October 2018.
“I don’t want to make a rush decision, as much as it would be a privilege to play for either,” Eze said on The Beautiful Game podcast.
“It would be a great honor.”
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Eze also acknowledges contact with president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick who met the talented midfielder and his parents in December.
“I spoke to them,” he added.
“But again, I am just enjoying my football right now and I don’t want any added pressure on my mindset.
“I don’t want to focus on the wrong things.
“I want to focus on what has got me to this position, continue doing it and wherever it takes me, it takes me.”
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COMMENTS
Lol. More like saying “I’m biding my time to see if Southgate will look my way. If no shout out from the 3Lions in say 3 years, then I’ll take the 2nd option, SE.”
Oga, we can read your lips. Aribo is not older than you and it didn’t take him forever to make that decision.
In the meantime, try having a quick chat with Tomori & Abraham. Then call up Aribo, Aina & Lukman. Then, go ahead and make up your mind quickly. No time to check time.
@Kel
Wise counsel. ??Even if he lands 3L, I can’t see how he’ll avoid warming the bench.
Well said Kel. Bill Gates, sorry, Phillip Billing has set the right example of how to go about this matter. Eze should have the temerity to come out once and for all to pledge his allegiance to England so both parties can move on.
The truth is, he will be ‘worshipped’ more as a Nigerian international than being an England International (Fact).
He will enjoy his international games more, he will win more, and will find it easier for his shortcomings to be tolerated more as a Nigerian international than playing for England.
He should just ask Iwobi: Nigerian fans will be willing to die for you and crucify anyone who dares to criticise you (ha ha ha!). He wouldn’t get that level of fanatism with England. 🙂
I wish the young man all the best. It is not whether he chooses England over Nigeria that is my problem. I would just like him to stop mocking us about.
This boys, i have never seen them make the same comment when called upon by England.maybe they think we don’t know what they are waiting for.even if we accept u latter, we do so not because we don’t know what your plan has been, just that we need u to make our team stronger.
You nailed it @Kel this guy has made up his mind already just praying to play with the big boys in premiership where he may get southgate attention. He’s following the footsteps of others before him using Nigeria to get quick call ups. That reminds me of Nedu onuoha who had few great games with Manchester city and as soon as NFF approached him before 2014 world cup he said he’s taking his time to make decision where to play while praying seriously for England invitation but before you know it he was relegated to bench. Where is Nedu onuoha today? Others were fortunate to be used in friendly matches but Nedu was not called and he never recovered. Eze is good but we have other options I only hope he does not leave to regret his decisions.
Don’t forget we have ovie ejara if eze refuses to show up we are ok with ejara.dey play similar, eze is just a little bit ahead of ejara,
John fashonu is still living. any of these young brats should go to the shrine of fashonu and answer himself, same England did it to him in 94 , ugo ehiogu , chris Armstrong etc etc . Am laughing at him. World cup is coming, if he’s so good, they’ll rest their favorite English boy for qualifiers and dump him on the the main event
But remember this Eze,Nigeria is only interested in you now because you are in good form.When your preferred England fails to give you an invite and you invariably turn to Nigeria as expected,remember this,Nigerian fans don’t forget things easily and i doubt you will get a second chance with Nigeria.
If you are saying you are focused on club football but accept every under age invitation with England,so who are you fooling?obviously if you can play for the England youth set ups you equally would jump at play for the three lions.
Let’s call a spade a spade,it’s time you stopped beating about the bush and be frank for once.Just as Billing unequivocally stated that his heart is with Denmark why is it so hard for you to state the obvious so we could both move on
Please please and please. This boy is beginning to annoy me. He’s just using Nigeria to seek attention from England. And it’s like he’s achieving his aim. Enough is Enough! Eze is becoming stale.
I know this might be difficult to take in bearing in mind that he’s in good form and plays in a position we badly need someone. But please Naija fans, let’s start to forget about this guy called EZE. His heart is with England. Let’s let him be and look inward. @Deo posted a very brilliant baller(AMF) in the NPFL Olawoyin of Enugu Rangers. Why not begin to scout this guy for a possible invite?? As for me, am done with begging someone that is not bigger than Nigeria.
If england U21 coach calls him now he will rush…
Southgate calls him now he will rush; but as for nigeria, he’s not in a rush…. Issokay
The lad is using our NFF to play politics.
His statement sounds so diplomatic..
NFF pls save us this shame; let this young man alone.
I BLAME THE PEOPLE THAT DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL TACTICS….
HOW MANY CREATIVE PLAYERS DOES LIVERPOOL HAVE?,,, BUT THEY ARE RAPING EPL.
THE FULL BACKS PULL-IN DANGEROUS CROSSES…
FLASH BACK TO THE GAME WE PLAYED AGAINST SOUTH AFRICA AT AFCON; THAT IS THE TACTICS AND PATTERN THAT FIT THE S.E NOW….
A REPEAT OF IT WAS SEEN AGAINST UKRAIN…
WHERE MUSA or KALU AND CHUKWUEZE WERE DOING THE RUN AND CUT-IN TO SHOOT OR LAY A PASS…
SOME FOOTBALL NOVICE STARTED SHOUTING OF CREATIVITY AS IF THAT WILL WIN THEM THE WORLD CUP…
WHEN THERE WAS CREATIVITY HOW MANY AFCON AND WORLD CUP TROPHIES DID WE WIN?
ALLOW ROHR TO BUILD THIS TEAM WITH THE WILLING PLAYERS AND THE PLAYERS WE HAVE ON GROUND.
Stop forcing players on OGA ROHR…
IF U OBSERVE VERY WELL; ROHR DON’T EVEN CHERISH THIS ENGLISH BORNS LIKE THE GERMAN AND DUTCH BORNS…
I REST MY CASE….
Dear Brothers, both the Progressives and the 4/5 hahahaha..I hail una..I stand with the rest concerning Eberechi Eze, The young boy wants to play for England. We wish him all the Best, we have Lookman, Iwobi, Aina, Aribo, Ehizibue, Bryan, Troost, Balogun..chai them toomuch..Whenever I see Ebere play, I remember Agbonlahor and the hype around him before he decided to pitch his tent with England, Man didn’t play in any international competition, EURO or World cup..Eberechi, if you are reading this..Nwanne, shine your eyes.
Lol ibe was hotter than you. Anyway it’s your choice and career. If me ma get work for England my brother….
Well….I’m not bothered.
Abraham left, Dessers came, Tomori out, Ehizibue in, Billing out, Ejaria in…Let him go…another player will come.
If Abraham is that good, Chelsea won’t need Osimhen.
That is the guy ejaria play almost like, strong with the ball, can dribble, the only thing eze have over ejaria,eze posses more assists than ejaria ,his vision is better than ejaria but, ejaria holds the ball more better
Let’s all be honest with ourselves, playing for England carries with it a higher prestige than playing for Nigeria which in itself is no small honor. The young man is in a position where he has to opportunity to do either, an option only a few people on planet earth have. He is doing what any one of us would do if we have the option of taking a better job given the options available. Unfortunately we are the employer that has to wait on his decision. Nothing spoil. If he does eventually choose Nigeria, would any of you refuse him? I won’t.
You are not in anyway related to england mr eze, ur papa and mama na naija and u are there forming oyinbo, Anyway i think he will like to play for Nigeria, all his friends are already with us, ejiara, iwobi, aribo,maja,lukman,akpom, are already in the camp. Ebere is a verry hard working player, fit and skillful, offensive and great shot ability, his game doesnt fit in england team rather its matches into our stile of play,he will definately put smiles in our faces if he join the Eagles. If not he will regret it, he might end up not playing in english first team and that will limits is football glory, besides why will a man ignore his people for strangers who doesnt really care if he play for them or not? You better come and make history with Naija
Think twice you can not last in 3l eventually you opt because of discrimination I wish you best of luck wherever you switch to
i have heard much about this alawayin of enugu. if he is good, then let yobo introduce him to rohr fast fast. abeg no time.
I see Eze as an English player. That is who he is for now, 100%.
If he decides to jump ship, fine. However, he has to show us that he is as good as or better than what we already have. Aribo, Iwobi, Ejaria: these are capable AMs. What Eze will bring to the table is more options and increased competition.
Ibrahim Olawoyin is an interesting prospect. He is a winger, comfortable on the left and right. He can also function in the attacking midfield role. He has his work cut out though competing with the likes of Chukwueze, Kalu, Simon, and soon to be capped Ejuke. Still, I think this is a player worth watching closely. You never know. He just might get his chance!
The truth of the matter is thst Nigeria does not need Eze. With Ovie Ejaria now in SE our midfield is complete. Ovie is far better this dude . I implore fans to watch them on youtube to ascertain the fact
Can someone say Aribo or Azeez is better than Eze now that he is sounding negative? As Nigerians let us learn to move on from our loss and face our welfare if the welfare is great we will have no problem having this players commit to us.
Ebere Eze is being true to himself. I watched the interview on youtube where he was asked the question again last week. Lets be honest, until he says “I am waiting for England” he will be asked this question again and again. In that interview, he was initially asked, and he gave the bog standard answer “it will be a priviledge to play for both” (meaning either of the countries). However, later on he was asked it in a different way; “would you like to be called up for the Euro nations cup next year”? his eyes and smile gave it away before he composed himself and repeated that he would be honoured to play for whichever country.
It’s certain whom in his heart he wants to play for. We need to move on and focus on those that want to play for us.
At this time we have Chuba Akpom, Ovie Ejaria, Ademola Lookman awaiting change of allegiance confirmation. We have Noel Sarenren-Bazee already certified. We also have a lot of other options: Bright osayi-Samuels, Felix Udokhai, Bobby Adekanye, Sheyi Ojo, Jordan Torunarigha, Tosin Adarabioyo waiting on that call. Add to them Chidera Ejuke, Alhassan Yusuf etc begging for a chance.
I wonder how many we can even accommodate self.
By the time he makes up his mind, the boat might have sailed, like it has for Jordan Aibe (Ibe)
Good talk @ BigD. I honestly don’t wanna talk about EZE anymore. It’s just someone in the media doing this to promote Eze especially now that its getting close to transfer windows. Nigeria will never miss him but he instead will miss nigerias opportunity.
Hahahahaha…Jordan Aiybe…! LMAO
Aiybe was feeling like the most high just because he was wearing a Liverpool jersey. Aiybe is about to be released from Bournemouth now and is beginning to “feel Nigerian” sotey he now knows the name of the Coach of Nigeria’s national team. If he had played for Nigeria then, he like V. Moses, could still have been able to attract top clubs like Inter Milan today.
Dog wey nor gree hear hunter whistle go loss inside bush…!
Dr Drey, you are so funny… All of a sudden he is now feeling like a Nigerian… (ha ha ha!)
I guess for some of them, the feeling of being ‘Nigerian’ is a ‘seasonal thing’. 🙂
Bros please post a link that the youtube interview. Thanks!
Eze is a bloody fool yes he is telling us is nt ripe for him yet to make decisipn bt is vry obvious dat he is eyein england shame on u eze they wil use for one or 2 matches nd u wil b relegated to d bench look at iwobi aribo ajaria ajayi aina re u better or wiser than them obvously no u re waitin for england to cal u dat is one of d reason u re stil pendin acceptin playin for nigeria nonsence get lost who cares abt u
We dont respect what we have. Why are we beging a player in second division to play for us we have players better than him in that position. We dont have problem in the AMF position. Iwobi. K nwakali. Ejara. Etebo. Aribo. are better than Eze. Even Kalu and Ejuke can fit in that position. our team is geting better we only have problem in the coaching crew and the left full back position. My advice to Ebere nne gi na nna gi bu ndi nigeria. Obara nigeria di gi na ahu. ( were ire gi guo eze gi onu )
Eziokwu! Ebere, nu kwa nti!
Tomori has been sitting on the bench like a pigeon since he declared “I can’t wait to play for the 3lions” and “the atmosphere around the team is good”. I guess the atmosphere is really good for him now as his name has been inncribed on the bench of the 3lions. U dare not sit on his seat as it’s been officially assigned to him just like a jersey number. What a “good” feeling! Now, i guess. lol. All of a sudden you’re beginning to like Nigerian music and beginning to know the names of Nigerian artistes. Shuuuuu!!! Lol, e never start, eeehn, no wahala, you go still know the name of Buhari’s grandfather…lol and for Abraham, he’s just standing with one leg and they’ve seen him all. There’s is nothing he’ll play for them that will be a new thing, his own customized seat is still in the R and D department, to be released and installed soon. And for this dude, we ain’t begging you boy. If you can’t learn from what has happened to lookman, ibe,agbonlahor, et al, then u must be a fool. Victor Moses’s career would have been dead a long time ago if had made that mistake to play for England, his saving grace was his wise decision to play for Nigeria which has has gone a long way to helping his dwindling career with lots of laurels already under his belt before retiring at least, he has a very good story to tell about his career. winning the nation’s cup with “Nigeria” and playing at the world cup twice
no be beans. Pls, never u make reference to the supposed dilema you’re facing to make your choice bcs we already know your mind and remember, rohr has already stated that Nigeria should not be seen as a second resort or an “alternative”. It’s either u make a decision now or forget about it forever! No be tomorrow now you’ll come out and say nobody approached u (which has been the chorus on the lips of those that missed the ship when the door was still open) It’s a free world, go and play for the 3 lions and tell me if you go smell playing in any major tournament for them. Tomorri will never smell the world cup let alone sitting on the bench and Abraham might make it but will have his flat furnished on the bench. Im not wishing them evil but I’m just being realistic. They’ll cap u (if you’re lucky) but that will be the end of your romance with then and then you’ll start liking Nigerian “jollof”..lol…OK nah.. Arios amigo!!!
If we are honest with ourselves, we know that even the foreign borns that now play for us like Balogun, and Troost-Ekong had hoped to play for Germany and Netherlands respectively but chose Naija when it was obvious the call-up wasn’t forthcoming. Of course there are the Iwobi’s and Aribo’s that committed to Nigeria early on that you know its where their hearts was at. Even those two would realistically have a hard time being regulars in the England set-up.
The point I’m trying to make is everyone makes a decision based on what’s best for that individual be it those that commit to Nigeria (eventually) or those that don’t. You yourself do the same thing in your regular and professional lives! I don’t think we should be referring to them as “bloody fools” or “disgrace” or “shame” because that is putting a lil too much on it. Besides these guys have grown up in those environments and genuinely feel English, German, Dutch, Danish or whatever. They may not have even grown up with their Nigerian parent. Each individual is different and their circumstance will dictate what’s in their heart. I see nothing wrong with a player fully exercising his options after-all he’s the one that has put in the sweat, tears and blood to get to this point in his career.
Instead of us sweating these foreign born players, let’s see this as an opportunity to start properly developing our systems so that we can start producing quality homegrown players instead of waiting to be a fall back plan by those whom we have invested nothing into their development
Nigeria should cease the pursuit of this Ebere Eze guy. He is playing hide-and-seek with Nigeria. It is clear his mind is set on playing for England.
I remember he rumbled same lines of excuse when Pinnick met with him, only for him to subsequently feature for the English U-20 side. Why didn’t he turn down the English U-20 invite and tell them he wasn’t keen on that for now and that what is paramount for him is his club carrier?
He is feverishly awaiting an invitation to the English Three Lions squad. All this alibi he is cooking up are mere bulwark for staving off advances from Nigeria.
If his Three Lions invite doesn’t come in say some 5 years time, you will hear him singing a new song of wanting to represent Nigeria and that he never turned down Nigeria.Lol. The case of Kelvin Akpoguma springs to mind in this respect.
Nigeria isn’t a second choice and we should make these guys understand so.If you want to represent Nigeria, you should be bent on doing so, just like Cyril Dessers.
Eze is over hyped. We have alot of guys in the NPFl who would do better.
Super Eagles is too big to beg any player in the world. Ejike can do well in the Midfield. If not for the inconsistency of Iwobi, we shouldn’t be looking for a black albino who is confused on his identity.
Let’s stop talking about this Championship player who can’t find his way to EPL yet.