United States Hand Debut Senior Call-ups To Leicester City, Wolves Nigeria-Eligible Teenagers

Published: November 03, 2020

United States national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has named a 24-player roster for their upcoming games in November against Wales and Panama, with two Nigeria-eligible teenagers surprisingly making the cut, allnigeriasoccer.com reports.

Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Owen Otasowie and Leicester City goalkeeper Chituru Odunze, who have not made their league debuts for their English clubs, have earned their first senior call-ups and will report for international duty in Cardiff on November 8.

Should they makes their debuts for the United States, their status won't change as the two games are friendlies.

While the 19-year-old Otasowie has represented the Americans at U18 level, Odunze, 18, was a member of the United States squad to the 2019 FIFA U17 World Cup, playing two of their group matches against Japan and Netherlands.

In the current season, Odunze has made only one appearance for Leicester City youth teams and it came in an 8-2 defeat to Southampton U18s on October 17.

Otasowie is knocking on Wolves' first team door, having made the bench for Premier League games against Leeds United and Crystal Palace last month.

Odunze and Otasowie were born in North Carolina and New York City respectively, making them eligible to play for the United States under FIFA rules.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : wolves.co.uk