6th October, 2020
Hoffenheim defender, Kevin Akpoguma can now be called upon by Coach Gernot Rohr as the world football governing body, FIFA, granted his application to switch international allegiance from Germany to Nigeria.
Amaju Pinnick announced the development Monday evening.
“I’m extremely happy to announce that FIFA has just granted Hoffenheim defender and former German U-20 national team skipper Kevin Ufuoma Akpoguma permission to make his switch to Nigeria with immediate effect,” Pinnick, President of the Nigerian Football Federation, stated.
The 25-year-old defender, who was not invited for the friendly matches against Algeria and Tunisia – joined the Eagles camp in Austria on Wednesday while awaiting FIFA clearance.
Akpoguma said he joined the camp to familiarise himself with the team set-up.
Akpoguma, who has a Nigerian father and a German father, had in 2018 first signified his intention to play for the Eagles.
Eagles coach Gernot Rohr however told BBC in September that he had convinced the defender to play for Nigeria.
Akpoguma represented Germany from the U-16 level to the U-21s, and captained the German U-20 side at the 2015 U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, helping the Europeans beat Nigeria’s U-20 side 1-0 in the Round of 16.