16-year-old IFK Goteburg U17 goalkeeper Promise Ezeilo has expressed his willingness to represent Nigeria if presented with the opportunity.
Born to Nigerian parents, in Funtua, a local government area in Katsina State, Northern Nigeria, he moved to Sweden with his family just a year after his birth and has since lived in Gothenburg where he is developing with one of the biggest clubs in the Scandinavian country.
In an exclusive interview with Myleaguewire, the 1.83cm recounted his experience at the recently concluded Gothia Cup where his team faced two Nigerian teams, Beyond Limits FA and TikiTaka FC International.
Asked how he would react to a call up from his motherland if presented with an opportunity, “yes, I’ll take it straight up,” Ezeilo said.
IFK Goteborg was in the same group with Beyond Limits and lost 0-3 before facing TikiTaka FC in the knockout phase which ended in a 2-2 draw but they lost in penalty shootout. He said it hit differently playing against an all-Nigerian side at the tournament.
“It was mixed feelings. I saw them as opposition of course and I also saw them as my country men pretty-happy to play with them. For me I always see my opposition team as enemies so I always do my best to beat the other team. I always happy to share the same pitch with them.”
“It was a good experience playing against Nigerian teams in the tournament, I learnt a lot from them. The tempo was high and they played very well. We did our best but in the end we didn’t win.”
When asked if he could speak any Nigerian language, he said, “I can speak Igbo. My Igbo is very strong. I also speak Swedish, English and a little bit of Spanish.”
Ezeilo was a product of Angereds BK where he honed his skill before joining Gotaholm ahead of the 2022 season. He then made a move to IFK Goteborg, and made his debut for the U17 side last September.
His 2024 Gothia Cup experience would definitely compete for a place in his history books along side his first appearance which was with Gotaholm BK. Ezeilo and his mates defeated another Swedish club Gias to clinch the title in the B18 category 2022.
