Chelsea midfielder becomes provisionally cap-tied to England despite being spotted wearing Super Falcons kit

Highly-rated Chelsea midfielder Ashanti Akpan became provisionally cap-tied to England on Tuesday as the Young Lionesses defeated Greece 2-0 in their opening game of the 2024 UEFA European Women's U19 Championship qualifiers, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

She arrived at the England camp in very good form, having netted a brace for Chelsea U21s in a 6-1 win over Charlton Athletic in the WSL Academy League.

Wearing the number 4 at the back of her jersey, Akpan made her first competitive appearance for England youth teams after coming off the bench at halftime as a replacement for Madison Earl, with the game staged at the Cardiff International Sports Campus deadlocked at 0-0.

A one-time change of association application must be approved by football's governing body, Fifa if the Warsaw-born player decides to represent either Nigeria or Poland in the future, provided that she has not played a competitive game for the Lionesses. 

Prior to her first competitive appearance for England's youth team, she openly flirted with the Nigeria squad, having been spotted several times wearing the country's jerseys. 

In addition, she follows Super Falcons stars Ashleigh Plumptre, Michelle Alozie and Asisat Oshoala, Super Eagles duo Kenneth Omeruo and Victor Osimhen, Super Falcons, Super Eagles and the Nigeria Football Federation on social media. 

Ashanti's Polish mom, Mags told allnigeriasoccer.com few years ago that the Nigerian Federation had not contacted her about the possibility of her children representing the African side. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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