Ex-Nigeria U17 Invitee Debuts For England U21s, Abraham Shines

Former Golden Eaglets invitee Ovie Ejaria made his long-awaited debut for England U21s on Saturday, March 24.

Nine months after helping the Young Lions win the Fifa U20 World Cup in South Korea, the Liverpool midfielder played his maiden game for Aidy Boothroyd’s side in their 2-1 win over Romania in the Cyrille Regis International at Molineux.

Ejaria was one of the four players of Nigerian descent handed starting berths, the others being Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea), Ademola Lookman (Everton) and Tammy Abraham (Chelsea).

Demarai Gray found the net after eight minutes to give England the lead, but the visitors were close to grabbing an equalizer just before the intermission when Ejaria lost the ball.

In the second half, Tammy Abraham sent a header onto the crossbar and was unlucky not to win a penalty for his side.

Jake Clarke-Salter doubled the Young Lions advantage on 72 minutes but Valentin Costache pulled a goal back with 11 minutes left on the clock.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder of Nigerian descent Josh Onomah played for 20 minutes after coming off the bench, while Abraham was substituted on 84 minutes.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : thefa.com