Club Brugge forward Arnold Groeneveld Danjuma was capped by the Netherlands to stop his planned switch of allegiance to the Super Eagles of Nigeria, according to Dutch journalist Roland Mark.
Danjuma has settled down nicely in the Belgium top division since his move from second division Dutch outfit NEC Nijmegen on a free transfer in the summer and his form led to a tug for his international future between Nigeria and the Netherlands.
Born in Nigeria, the forward whose father is also from the West African country has spent the most part of his life in the Netherlands and represented their U19 team three years ago but as at his last game for the U21s this year, he was still eligible to play for Nigeria at senior level.
All of that ended when he played for the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League game against Germany, where he was introduced as a substitute in the final 22 minutes of the game.
” Injury made him miss the recent games for the Dutch national team but it’s clear to see why he was hurriedly capped by the Netherlands. He isn’t even the best player among the forwards at U21 level, his debut came to many as a surprise but you have to understand his case”, Roland Mark told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” Look he spoke about been open to representing Nigeria at senior level after a game for the U21s. Coach of the senior national team of Netherlands Ronald Koeman was among the people who criticised how Tyronne Ebuehi was lost to Nigeria. His move is to keep away from Nigeria, something they didn’t do with Hakim Ziyech who now plays for Morocco “, he concluded.
