Young Spanish defender, Derik Osede Prieto has revealed why he
is dumping the opportunity to play for the Spanish senior team for Nigeria, his
native country.
Derik, who has played at all youth levels
for Spain told BBC Sport that he is ready to represent Nigeria at any stage he
may be needed to feature because his father is Nigerian.
The 22-year-old centre-back, simply called Derik, is a regular
for European giants Real Madrid’s B side, and under Fifa rules, is free to
switch because he has not yet played for a country’s senior national team.
Vanguard reports with reference to the
BBC interview, that despite possessing the talent to potentially make the step
up to Spain’s senior side, Derik has issued what appears to be effectively a
come-and-get-me plea to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
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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