Dele Alli believes whatever the outcome, he is going to emerge from Wembley a proud player after England settle the score with Nigeria in a pre-World Cup friendly.
Alli, born of a Nigerian father, is one of the players England coach, Gareth Southgate, relies on to give the Three Lions a decent run in Russia 2018 World Cup but before then Nigeria come as a testy audition.
”Playing against Nigeria will be awesome. In name and complexion, I am Nigeria and that is going to be a personal outing for me because I am in a different situation from all the games I have played all my life”
Alli added that the game is special in many ways.
”The Nigerian team is coming with a lot of players who play in the Premier League and when you talk of Victor Moses and Wilfred Ndidi, you got champions among them. I will like to see how well I can do against Leon Balogun, he is a good brother, who two years ago, looked after me when I was on holiday at the United States”
Win, lose or draw, Alli says he will be prideful.
”Why should I cry if Nigeria win. It is a friendly and moreover, they are my country. However, I always play to win and that is what should be understood”