{"id":20599,"date":"2020-01-27T16:09:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T16:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/nigeria\/?p=20599"},"modified":"2020-01-27T16:09:31","modified_gmt":"2020-01-27T16:09:31","slug":"akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team","title":{"rendered":"Akpom: I have to fight for PAOK to get on Nigeria team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arsenal academy graduate Chuba Akpom started his international career in the England youth ranks. He made it up to the u21s, scoring three goals in five games, but the journey ended there.<\/p>\n

Recently, Akpom confirmed his desire to play for the Nigeria national team instead. His parents came from the country, and he signed the documents to switch his allegiance in 2019. Now, he knows he needs to prove himself to get in the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just pledged my international allegiance to Nigeria and it definitely motives me to try and press and play every game for my club and help the team as much as possible to get in the (Nigeria) national team because that\u2019s how I\u2019m going to do it,\u201d Akpom said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirstly, I have to fight for my club to get on that team. It\u2019s not going to be easy because there are many young players. I\u2019m up to the challenge and I hope that I would be selected soon. I\u2019m ready to help the national team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The problem is that the 24-year-old striker isn\u2019t starting too often for his club right now. This season, he\u2019s up to 11 starts in all competitions, only five in 20 league games.<\/p>\n

Given the restrictions on his game time, scoring six goals and assisting three is a good record. For some reason, it\u2019s not really translating into more starts though.<\/p>\n

Akpom has either scored, assisted or both in every domestic game he\u2019s played 90 minutes in, but that\u2019s only five games. He knows he needs to play more to make it into the Nigeria team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arsenal academy graduate Chuba Akpom started his international career in the England youth ranks. He made it up to the u21s, scoring three goals in five games, but the journey ended there. Recently, Akpom confirmed his desire to play for the Nigeria national team instead. His parents came from the country, and he signed the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":20600,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,18],"tags":[174,115],"class_list":["post-20599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-football-in-nigeria","tag-nigerian-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nAkpom: I have to fight for PAOK to get on Nigeria team - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Arsenal academy graduate Chuba Akpom started his international career in the England youth ranks. 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He made it up to the u21s, scoring\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-27T16:09:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/Chuba-Akpom-PAOK.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"alico\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"alico\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"headline\":\"Akpom: I have to fight for PAOK to get on Nigeria team\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-27T16:09:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team\"},\"wordCount\":284,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/Chuba-Akpom-PAOK.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Football in Nigeria\",\"Nigerian sports\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team\",\"name\":\"Akpom: I have to fight for PAOK to get on Nigeria team - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/akpom-i-have-to-fight-for-paok-to-get-on-nigeria-team#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2020\/01\/Chuba-Akpom-PAOK.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-27T16:09:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/50afd2ef4f0e900bd0a176404a8484a7\"},\"description\":\"Arsenal academy graduate Chuba Akpom started his international career in the England youth ranks. 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