Nigeria Miss Out On Abraham As Chelsea Striker Plays Cap-Tying Game For England

Published: October 12, 2019

Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham can no longer represent the Nigerian National Teams, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

The Nigeria Football Federation target played his first competitive game for the Three Lions as they suffered a 2-1 loss to Czech Republic in a European Championship qualifier on Friday night.

Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick first attempted to convince Abraham to switch his international allegiance to the three-time African champions in 2017 without success and reignited his interest in the striker two months ago following his blistering start to the season.

England coach Gareth Southgate introduced Abraham in the 88th minute as a replacement for West Ham midfielder Declan Rice, tying the striker to England for life.

Abraham had caps for England's U18 and U19 teams and was promoted to the U21 side without making an appearance for the U20s, and his previous appearances for England's senior team prior to the trip to Czech Republic were in friendly matches against Brazil and Germany.

As for his Chelsea teammate Fikayo Tomori, the central defender was a non-playing substitute against the Czechs and could still play for Nigeria, provided he is not cap-tied in Monday's game against Bulgaria.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : chelseafc.com