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| Dele Alli |
Yesterday, Tottenham Hotspurs’ Dele
Alli celebrated his last day as a teenager in style. He scored the opening goal
in the 3-0 drubbing of Manchester United.
The midfielder, who turns 20 today,
is one of the fastest rising stars in England. Just a year ago he was virtually
unknown when he moved from MK Dons to Tottenham on a five-and-a-half-year
deal worth an initial fee of £5 million. Since then,
he’s been playing wonderfully well, scoring
wondergoals for Spurs – and England.
When he got his first cap, there
was a collective groan in Nigeria as the Super Eagles lost yet another “son” to
the Three Lions.
Alli, whose full name is Bamidele Jermaine Alli, has joined a growing list of Nigerian-born
football players who opted to play for England.
In
the 1980’s footballers with Nigerian heritage who opted to play for England
included the Fashanu brothers Justin and John, as well as and John
Salako. The trend has continued to this day with the likes of Jodon Ibe of
Liverpool, Ross Barkley of Everton, Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor, as well
as Celtic’s Carlton Cole choosing England over Nigeria.
Warri-born defender Nedum Onuoha,
who plays for Queens Park Rangers, is still holding out for a place for England
in spite of pressure to represent Nigeria. From the look of things, that call
may never come.
Alli was born
and raised in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, to Nigerian father Kenny and English mother Denise. That made
him eligible to play for Nigeria and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) tried
hard to lure him to the Super Eagles. Ironically, John Fashanu, who had spurned
the Super Eagles decades earlier, was one of those who tried to persuade him to
come home.
It is significant that Alli got his
first England call as Nigeria celebrated her 55th independence
anniversary on October 1, 2015. England manager Roy Hodgson included the
youngster in the team to face Estonia and Lithuania
in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying matches.
On November 17, 2015, Alli made his
first start for England, scoring the opening goal from a long-range shot as
England eased to a 2-0 defeat of France.
He was again named in the
starting line-up for England's friendly match against world champions Germany on 26 March 2016. Alli was named man
of the match by the BBC as England recovered from 0–2 down to
win 3–2 in Berlin. Nigeria has certainly lost a gem.
Thankfully, Arsenal starlet Alex
Iwobi chose to come back home. Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief when the
talented teen, who had represented England at junior level, finally appeared
for the Super Eagles in a competitive match, putting paid to any attempt by
England to woo him back.
So this is a case of lose some,
win some.
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