Two Nigeria-eligible footballers get France Olympics call-up

Former Barcelona and French winger, Thierry Henry, has included two Nigeria-eligible gamers in his provisional squad for the 2024 Olympic video games, Soccernet.ng experiences.

The previous Arsenal man labored with the Belgium nationwide staff as an assistant supervisor in the course of the 2018 World Cup and the EURO 2021 event earlier than he was appointed because the French U-23 coach final 12 months.

Tasked with the accountability of looking for out a gold medal on residence soil on the 2024 Olympics, the previous Juventus winger chosen two gamers of Nigerian descent.

Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise, and Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu had been included in Henry’s 23-man squad. Different notable inclusions embrace Alexandre Lacazette, Jean Philippe-Mateta, Mathys Tel, and PSG’s Warren Zaïre-Emery.

Kylian Mbappe isn’t named in France’s Olympics squad.

Michael Olise included together with Palace teammate Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Chelsea’s Lesley Ugochukwu and Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette make the staff.🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/GcYloZK915

— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) June 3, 2024

Olise was born in England to a Nigerian father and a French-Algerian mom and is eligible to characterize France, Algeria, England or Nigeria internationally. The 22-year-old has been enjoying for the French youth staff since 2019.

Like Olise, Ugochukwu is of Nigerian descent. He’s the nephew of former Rennes and Tremendous Eagles defender, Onyekachi Apam, and has represented France from the U-18 stage to the U-23.

Olise scored 10 objectives and offered six assists in 19 video games for Crystal Palace final season, whereas Mateta scored 16 and offered 5 assists for the Eagles within the English Premier League.

The mix of the duo will play an enormous position in how far France will go on the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The soccer event on the 2024 Summer season Olympics shall be held from 24 July to 10 August 2024.