Fortuna Dusseldorf Rising Star Commends Dessers For Choosing Nigeria Over Belgium

Fortuna Dusseldorf goalkeeper Maduka Okoye has commended Heracles Almelo goal poacher Cyriel Dessers for committing his international future to Nigeria over his country of birth, Belgium.

The 25-year-old striker was in line to make his competitive debut for the Super Eagles in March, having been called up for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone but the two matches were later postponed by the Confederation of African Football as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Dessers has improved his prospects of earning another call-up to the three-time African champions after finishing the 2019-2020 season as the unofficial top scorer in the Eredivisie with 15 goals.

German-born Okoye is a dual-eligible player as well as he has yet to make his competitive debut for the Super Eagles.

Speaking to the Super Eagles Media Team on Instagram Live, the 20-year-old glovesman said : "I think Dessers is a great striker scoring and scoring in the Dutch league and he made the right decision, he can bring us more quality in the Super Eagles. "

Born to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother, Dessers trained with Belgium U21 national team five years ago but didn't have to submit an official request to FIFA for a change of association prior to his maiden Super Eagles invitation because he was an unused substitute in the European Championship qualifier against Moldova.

Igho Kingsley