England include players of Nigerian descent Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori in their squad for upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers
Nigeria could lose Abraham and Tomori if they make an appearance in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
England boss Gareth Southgate has included Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori -who are of Nigerian descent- in his squad for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The international futures of Abraham and Tomori who are both born to Nigerian parents have been up in the air as they are still eligible to play for Nigeria and England.
Southgate has called up both players for England’s upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
ALSO READ: Five reasons Tammy Abraham turned down Nigeria in 2017
Tammy has made two appearances for England which came in friendly games making him still eligible to play for Nigeria.
It won’t be the case if he or Tomori plays against the Czech Republic or Bulgaria.
Reward for form
Southgate said he included Tammy in his squad as a reward for the striker’s form this season.
“It was a fairly easy decision as he's the leading English goalscorer in the league,” the England coach said during a press conference to announce the squad.
“We put him into the squad very young when we were changing the complexion of what we were doing. That was a bit early for him but because of the opportunity given to him by Frank Lampard at Chelsea, we've brought him back in.
“This is now a great chance for Tammy. He's always scored goals for our junior teams, he's done that in the Championships and now he's grasped his opportunity at the beginning of this season.”
Southgate also revealed that he has not discussed the issue of international allegiance with Tammy and dismissed the suggestion that the striker and Tomori were invited with the intention to stop them from playing for another country.
"I haven't discussed it with him, I left it to Frank to tell him he was in the squad,” Southgate said.
"I don't think it is ethically right to give someone a cap just to make sure they can't play for someone else. Both Fik (Tomori) and Abraham are in on merit."
Born in London to Nigerian parents, Tammy played more than 44 times for England’s U18s, U19s and U21s before his two appearances for the Three Lions.
The striker met with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) in 2017 but later came out to deny the reports that he has agreed to play for England.
Tomori who also born to Nigerian parents in Calgary is also eligible to play for Canada. He made appearances for the Canada U20s before he switched to England’s U19s, U20 and U21.
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