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Nigerian-born stars Abraham, Tomori get England call-up for Euro

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The duo of Tammy Abraham and Fikayo Tomori may never play for Nigeria as they now have a good chance of giving their international allegiance to England.

England manager Gareth Southgate on Thursday announced his squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers away to the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

Abraham and Tomori were included in the squad amid contemplation in some quarters as to whether or not the Chelsea duo would opt for Nigeria rather than England.

Another Nigerian-born, Dele Alli, who had long been playing for England, was dropped from the squad, who play the Czechs on October 11 and Bulgaria on October 14.

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Abraham, 22, had said he had “not made a decision yet” on his international future, having only played for England in two friendlies and not a competitive game.

If he plays against either the Czechs or Bulgaria, he will not be able to switch allegiance, while the same also applies to Tomori who played for Canada at Under-20 level.

“It’s not ethically right to give someone a cap just so they can’t play for someone else,” said Southgate as quoted by the BBC.

“He and Fikayo Tomori are both in on merit and have been part of our junior system right the way through, so we see them as English players and they have a huge desire to play for England at senior level.”

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