A former South African footballer, Thulani Hlatshwayo advises defender Ime Okon to avoid switching his allegiance to Nigeria; npflupdates.com reports.
Ime Okon, a 20-year-old defender, was born in South Africa to a Nigerian father and a South African mother. And that makes him eligible to represent either of the two countries internationally.
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Recently, the Supersports defender earned a call-up to Hugo Broos’ Bafana Bafana, but couldn’t get to debut for the Green and Yellow colours.
Interestingly, despite getting a call up to the senior national team of South Africa the Supersport United defender revealed he is still undecided on his international future; leaving room for the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to make a move towards getting him.
What Thulani said about Ime Okon
That recent statement hasn’t gone down well with former Bafana Bafana captain Thulani “Tyson” Hlatshwayo, who feels that Ime Okon owes South Africa his allegiance.
According to the South African legend, it will also be difficult for Ime to break into the Super Eagles team which boasts of defenders like William Troost-Ekong, Oluwasemilogo Ajayi, Bruno Onyemaechi, Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey etc.
“He grew up here, he studied here, and coach Gavin Hunt took him from Randburg Football Club. He is South African, and he speaks Afrikaans. I have told him he needs to stay in South Africa because it will be difficult for him to crack into the Nigeria national team,” Tyson said of Ikon.
He went further to state categorically that he will stop offering help to the rising defender if he goes ahead to play for Nigeria.
Also read: Ime Okon : Important Defender Speaks On Snubbing Nigeria For Bafana Bafana
“I told him I am going to stop helping him if he chooses to play for Nigeria because there are things in his game that need to be polished,” Hlatshwayo noted.
“The more he plays, the more experience he is going to get, and he will do well. I don’t know if it has something to do with him being young, but he is quick and strong, and we complement one another very well.”
