After winning recruitment battle for Billing and Obaze, Denmark cap-tie another Nigerian player

Highly-rated Lecce defender Patrick Dorgu is no longer eligible to represent Nigeria at international level, provided his Danish citizenship is not revoked, allnigeriasoccer.com can report. 

The Copenhagen native earned his fourth cap for Denmark on Friday night as the Red and Whites were beaten 2-1 by European champions Spain in a UEFA Nations League encounter at 

Although Dorgu played in three competitive matches for Denmark prior to being called up for this month's internationals, he wasn't cap-tied to the Scandinavian nation because of FIFA's eligibility rules.

Players with dual nationality under the age of 21 can only become cap-tied to a national team if they participate in four matches for their first country, and one of these games has to be a competitive fixture.

Through his parents, Paul and Clara Dorgu, the 20-year-old previously qualified to play for Nigeria.

Patrick Dorgu is the second Nigerian player to be cap-tied to Denmark in recent years, following in the footsteps of Bournemouth midfielder Philip Billing.

Former Super Eagles coach Gernot Rohr held talks with Billing and his agent about the possibility of the holding midfielder switching his international allegiance from Denmark to Nigeria, his father's homeland.

However, the discussions between Rohr and Billing failed to yield any results as the former Huddersfield Town star made it clear he was not interested in joining the Super Eagles.

After playing in friendly matches against Faroe Islands and Serbia, Billing became cap-tied to Denmark after his appearance in a UEFA Nations League match against Austria in June 2022.

At women's level, Denmark also beat Nigeria to the services of Portland Thorns centre-back Isabella Obaze, who was on target against South Africa in a friendly last month. 

The Danish Football Association are ahead of their Nigerian counterparts in the recruitment battle for Newcastle United first teamer William Osula, Manchester United wonderkid Chido Obi-Martin and Sturm Graz's Tochi Chukwuani as the three players are provisionally cap-tied to the Scandinavian nation. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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