The mother of one time Nigeria U20 invitee Owen Goodman has rejected comments made by her son and the father on his decision to pledge his international future to Canada Ahead of Nigeria, OwnGoalNigeria.com reports.
Goodman is on loan to English League Two side AFC Wimbledon from English Premier League side Crystal Palace, he currently has 20 clean sheets from 43 games, conceding just 31 goals.
His form sparked talks about his international future, and he was quick to make it clear where his allegiance lies as he is eligible for three countries in Nigeria, Canada and England.
He has however only represented England at youth level keeping him eligible for both Nigeria and Canada as well, but he has already made his decision.
“I grew up in Canada, I was born in England, I’ve spent a lot of my life in Canada and England,” Goodman Jr. told Goalkeeper.com. “I’ve played for England at youth level but looking at it now, I feel like my dream is to play for Canada.
“I’ve never really said that to many people but I’m just waiting on a call-up from Canada. I don’t know when it will come, but I’m hoping it will come soon. But that’s my dream, to play for Canada”, he said.
His after also backed his decision explaining that they are waiting for his citizenship to be approved by the Canadian authorities.
“He tells me he feels more Canadian than Nigerian,” his father, Phil, told The Athletic. “His preference is Canada, but the only way that can happen is if he gets his citizenship. That is through the Canadian Soccer Association, but we may see if we can do it off our own back because he wants to become a citizen anyway and it gives him a better chance of a call-up.”
“[It’s] Canada, all day long,” agreed his dad. “He knows the competition he has for England. Even though he’s doing what he’s doing this season, there’s no way he’d get a look in with the Under-21s. He’s comfortable with that. I think he’s already made his decision.”
In a sharp contrast to the duo, the mother of the 21 year old Abigail who was in his company when he visited the president of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Ibrahim Musa Gusau denied the statements terming them as not true, hinting at her son’s availability for Nigeria.
“I thought he prefers to play for Canada”, a Nigerian asked the mother on social media platform thread following her post, where she tagged the Super Eagles handle.
” My son never say such. Just some Nigerian media coming up with fake stories”, she replied even though all quotes were made by the son and his father to foreign websites and only picked up by the media in Nigeria.
Mohammed Mowiz Suleiman
