Cyriel Dessers, has revealed that he spoke with Nigeria’s head coach, Gernot Rohr, before he received his first invitation to play for the country.
Dessers was born to a Belgian father and Nigerian mother.
The 25-year-old has been on Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)’s radar following his impressive form in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Dessers has played for Belgium’s U-21 side, but assured NFF president Amaju Pinnick in December, that he would prefer to represent the Super Eagles.
“I know they kept an eye on me. I recently had a really positive chat with the national team coach.
“They invited me to explain what they expected from me if I would be invited. Also what I could expect from the invite.
“They wanted to prepare me for everything. We talked a lot about football and Heracles Almelo too, about the Eredivisie as well. It was a really nice conversation,” Dessers told Heracles TV.
Dessers has been included in Rohr’s 24-man squad for Nigeria’s upcoming 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Sierra Leone.