Former Germany youth international Jordan Torunarigha has played down reports that he snubbed a call up to be a part of the senior national team of Nigeria to represent Germany in the past, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Born in Germany to parents of Nigerian descent with his father Ojokojo representing Nigeria at youth level, the Gent of Belgium defender is hoping for his first taste of senior national team football when Nigeria takes on Sao Tome and Principe in a dead rubber AFCON qualifiers game in Uyo.
He was handed a call up to the team by coach Jose Peseiro following FIFA’s approval of his switch of nationality from Germany to Nigeria. He played over 30 games for Germany at different youth levels.
26 year old Torunarigha rose through the youth ranks of the German team playing a combined total of twelve games for the U15, U16 and U17 team. He made the step up to the U19 and played in six games before joining the U20 team where he played in eight games.
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He stepped up to the U21 and excelled in four games prompting a quick invitation to the U23 team for the Olympic games in Tokyo. He played in all three of their games at the tournament.
That was his last involvement with Germany at youth level with his last game coming in the 1-1 draw against Cote d’Ivoire in their final group game. He played the entire duration of the game after playing 45 minutes in the first game against Brazil and 21 minutes in their second game against Saudi Arabia.
While speaking on his readiness for the game of the Super Eagles on Sunday, the left footed defender says he is hoping to put up an impressive performance if he gets to play to win over people who questioned his call up to the team. He also denied turning his back on Nigeria when he was first approached in 2018 but he didn’t give details of what transpired.
“It’s my first call up and get some playing times maybe and show the fans who are criticizing me for denying Nigeria which is not true make them feel happy and give them something back”, he said in a video interview with the official broadcast channel of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
“They should expect a hungry young guy who wants to show the world what he can do. I am not that young a player but I am still a young player. I want to show anybody who criticize me before I am here to help the team, here to give everything to the country and make Nigerians proud”, he stated.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
