No regret choosing England over Nigeria – Eberechi Eze

Crystal Palace star, Eberechi Eze who was recently called up by the national team of England has said that he has no regret in picking the European country over Nigeria.

The 24-year-old scored six goals in his final 10 Premier League appearances as Palace rallied under interim boss Roy Hodgson to comfortably avoid relegation. Eze subsequently opted to join England for Euro 2024 qualifiers, ending lengthy speculation he could represent Nigeria.

England will travel to Malta on Friday, June 15, before hosting North Macedonia in Manchester on Tuesday, June 20, with Eze aiming to make his senior debut after an impressive end to the domestic campaign with Crystal Palace.

Eze was born in south London to Nigerian parents and although he represented England at Under-20 and Under-21 level, then Nigerian Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick met with the midfielder in December 2019 and expressed hope of him joining the Super Eagles.

Explaining why he opted to play for England and not Nigeria 4 years after meeting Pinnick, Eberechi Eze said;

“[It was] more just speaking to the people around me, my family, my wife, getting good advice from the people around, trying to think what is the best decision for myself and my career.

“We think that this is the best one. It is a big opportunity for me, it is the highest level of football. I look at it with no regret at all.

“It is the highest level of football, you want to test yourself against that, you want to be in that and you can see from the quality of the team, where they are getting to, the confidence they are playing with, it is incredible. So, being part of that is big.

“I received the call and I felt it was the right decision to make and I am very, very happy to be here.”