{"id":16029,"date":"2019-09-27T16:01:04","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T16:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/nigeria\/?p=16029"},"modified":"2019-09-27T16:01:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T16:01:04","slug":"england-loses-again-solomon-otabor-opts-for-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/england-loses-again-solomon-otabor-opts-for-nigeria","title":{"rendered":"England loses again! Solomon-Otabor opts for Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria and England will be thrown into the ring for another battle, this time over Viv Efosa <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Viv_Solomon-Otabor\">Solomon-Otabor<\/a> following the player\u2019s decision to play for his country of birth.<\/p>\n<p>Solomon-Otabor, 23, has roots to former Super Eagles player Thompson Oliha, who is his uncle.<\/p>\n<p>The Winger was born in London to parents originally from Edo state, Nigeria. Victor-Banks Otabor, his father, played for Bendel Insurance before moving abroad.<\/p>\n<p>Currently on the books of CSKA Sofia in the Bulgarian Professional Football League, the energetic winger has played for Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool and Oxford City in the past.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018 he was offered a chance to play for the England U-21 team. Aidy Boothroyd called him up for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Andorra and Scotland but declined the opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>He is a right footed forward who can operate as a central striker or on either of the wide areas. He is adapting well at in the Bulgarian Professional Football League where his explosive pace is a useful weapon.<\/p>\n<p>Viv Solomon-Otabor\u2019s only individual award was when he won the Birmingham City Young Player of the Season in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>His pace and aggression on the flanks adding to his technical ability have won him praises from several coaches who have tutored Solomon-Otabor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t take decision alone. I have discussed with my parents if the Nigeria Football Federation contacts me to play. But for now, I am ready. My parents want me to represent Nigeria and that is what I will do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The CSKA Sofia star declared his readiness to defend the colours the three-time Africa champions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be a patriotic and a committed footballer who will never turn his back on the nation when given the opportunity to play for the good people of Nigeria. I believe I have what it takes to make the most out of the opportunity when afforded one. I am ever ready to represent my beloved country should I be invited by the technical handlers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the competition for places in the squad wouldn\u2019t be easy but I am a fighter who\u2019s always prepared for a battle and I believe I can thrive under the charges of coach Gernot Rohr because he\u2019s a tactical genius who can easily bring the best out of any player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy parents have always helped me to trace my roots and it will be their wish to see me play for Nigeria,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigeria and England will be thrown into the ring for another battle, this time over Viv Efosa Solomon-Otabor following the player\u2019s decision to play for his country of birth. Solomon-Otabor, 23, has roots to former Super Eagles player Thompson Oliha, who is his uncle. The Winger was born in London to parents originally from Edo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":16031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[174,115,881],"class_list":["post-16029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports","tag-nigerian-u20-players"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>England loses again! Solomon-Otabor opts for Nigeria - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nigeria and England will be thrown into the ring for another battle, this time over Viv Efosa Solomon-Otabor following the player\u2019s decision to play\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/england-loses-again-solomon-otabor-opts-for-nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"England loses again! 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