Super Eagles defender, Leon Balogun, has revealed why he chose Nigeria over Germany.
Balogun played for the age groups in Germany before he switched his international allegiance to the West African country, following a phone call with former head coach, Stephen Keshi.
In an interview with The Players Tribune, the Brighton new signing also explained why he never supported the German national team.
“One night in March, my phone rang. It was a Nigerian number … it was Stephen Keshi, the Nigerian National Team manager. I was sweating as soon as he introduced himself. I wanted him to say the words I had thought about for so long. He spoke for awhile about how he wasn’t totally familiar with me, but he liked how I played.
“Then he said it: ‘I would like to invite you to be a Super Eagle.’
“Those words … they meant so much to me. It meant validation for every step of my footballing journey. It meant happiness for my family. Most of all, it meant an opportunity to go to Nigeria.
“And that … that was everything to me.
“I never supported the German national team, mostly because I thought they were arrogant and their football was boring to watch. Even in 2006, when Germany hosted and the whole country had World Cup mania — I secretly cheered for them to lose. Because I was a kid, and I was rebellious. And because, even though I felt in my mind that I was just as German as all the other kids, a lot of people didn’t see me like that.”
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