I will encourage my children to play for Nigeria

A former Nigeria international, Osaze Odemwingie, has made a promise to encourage his three children play for the country though they have two other choices just like him for any international careers.

Born in Tashkent, the capital of an independent Uzbekistan, Odemwingie whose mother is Russian could have played for either of the European countries but he opted to play for his father’s land Nigeria.

Now that he has hung his boot and his children also enjoying multi nationalities just like him, Odemwingie in a recent Instagram Live chat on the Super Eagles said he is encouraging his children to follow his footsteps.

“I will encourage them. Even though they have different roots; British, Russia, Nigeria, but I am encouraging them and preparing their minds towards representing Nigeria,” the former West Brom and Stoke City striker stated.

My Theo turned 6 today. He was born just before Brazil 🇧🇷 2014 World Cup which I wouldn’t have made if not for the warmth, support and trust from the Potters @stokecity. We celebrate his birthday today and the Potters as well. Lots of love ❤️⚽️ 🇳🇬 🦅 pic.twitter.com/x3QqKqakPf

— Peter Odemwingie (@OdemwingieP) May 15, 2020

He added: “I am already raising future strikers. We often play Nigerian music, either in the car or at times at home.”

Odemwingie has three children, two sons and a daughter. He has Russian citizenship while his children were born in Britain and their mum is a Briton.

Though with its fair share of challenges and controversies, Odemwingie had a successful national team career. He said the passion of Nigerian fans and the talents of its player are phenomenal.

He said: “The true passion of Nigerian fans, it’s not something you learn, you are born with it. It’s a raw talents in Nigeria and if you look at performance of players like Taribo West, Sunday Oliseh or Taye Taiwo, their performance is not something you learn, we don’t really have such academies like we have in Europe, but the players still come out with their raw talents, that’s why I enjoyed a lot my time in the Super Eagles because of the talents in the team.”

Nigeria in recent times have been relying on players from Diaspora to add bite to the Super Eagles, the latest being on-loan Liverpool midfielder, Ovie Ejaria, who has even played for the English Youth teams before pledging his allegiance to represent Nigeria at the senior level.