German born Nigerian defender Leon Balogun, who currently plays for Fortuna Dusseldorf says it is a dream come true for him to finally don the Green-White-Green colours of Nigeria as a player. The 25-year old Leon Balogun, who joined Fortuna from Werder Bremen in the German football league, said he would achieve his childhood dream if Coach Stephen Keshi hands him a Super Eagles shirt to play against Mexico in Wednesday’s international friendly match.
Eagles Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, while speaking on a live Radio interview on Tuesday from America said: “Leon Balogun is already in camp with the other players and the Eagles are ready to confront Mexico on Wednesday.
“Leon, a German born Nigerian player was invited to replace skipper Joseph Yobo who was injured during his last EPL match. From his body language, Leon is anxious to play for Nigeria”.
Balogun, who earlier spoke to supersport.com about his desire to play for the Eagles said: “If I make the World Cup squad, it will be the best thing ever to happen to me because I have always felt Nigerian especially because of my grandma who tried to teach me ‘Yoruba’ (a local dialect in Western part of Nigeria) over the phone when I was a kid”.
Meanwhile, Turkey-based Emmanuel Emenike and Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi are among the players who had their first training in the US early Tuesday.
The training, according to Alaiya started started at 8pm Monday night in America, which is 2am Nigerian time on Tuesday, 4 March, 2014.