Derik Osede Prieto , a 22 year-old former Spain youth international defender has revealed to BBC Sport why he wants to play for Nigeria.The centre-back, who plays regularly for European giants Real Madrid's B side has played at all youth levels for Spain including two appearances for the Under-21 team.
Derik is eligible to play for the Super Eagles because his father is Nigerian and under Fifa rules he is free to switch because he has not yet played for a country's senior national team. Derik has now issued a come-and-get-me plea to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) despite possessing the talent to potentially make the step up to Spain's senior side. He told BBC Sport:
"I have lived in Spain all my life and I am not sure the people in Nigeria are aware that I have Nigerian blood.But I crave for something special with Nigeria because it will give me a chance to properly connect with the ancestral home of my father. My father is from Benin City [southern Nigeria] and even though I have never been there I always follow events in Nigeria.I celebrated when the country won the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013 and I was cheering the team at the last World Cup in Brazil.
"Playing for Spain was the foundation to where I am today and I can never take that for granted. You can’t throw away your education or outgrow it, Spain gave me what I have now and my hard work got me to where I am. But somehow I feel one half of my life has always been left untouched and I need to fix that."
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