Philip Billing is a 23-year-old footballer who plays for Premier League side, Bournemouth football club. Since 2018, Nigerian Football Federation has been monitoring his progress with the intention of convincing him to play for the Super Eagles, the country’s senior national team.
Though Philip Billing has featured for Denmark in age-grade competitions, he is still eligible to play for Nigeria since he has not featured for Denmark senior national team. Besides that, his father is a Nigerian but his mother is a Danish and he was born in Denmark.
Due to his performance in the Premier League since he joined Bournemouth last summer, where he has featured for the club in 29 matches in all competitions, the midfielder has become a major target for the coach of the Super Eagles Gernot Rohr.
According to an interview Billing had with BT, Rohr has been trying to convince the fast-rising star to play for the Super Eagles instead of Denmark, his preferred country.
Yet, the youngster believes that it would be strange for him to play for Nigeria because he feels 100 per cent Danish. He revealed that he has told the coach of the Super Eagles not to bother because he has already made his choice.
The football star also revealed that he has spoken with the coach of Denmark national team, Kasper Hjulmand, and he is hopeful that his “big dream” of being a Danish international will come to past soonest.
Philip Billing has made it clear to Rohr that he is for Denmark
“I have a Danish mother, Danish little brother and Danish little sister and a Nigerian father”, Philip Billing said. “But this is Denmark I want to stand for. That’s my big dream.
“I’ve talked to the coach [Rohr], but I know where I want to play. I want to play for Denmark, so it is no longer than that.
“He just said he really wanted me to play for Nigeria because the upcoming World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations will be played soon. I made it pretty clear to him that I wanted to play for Denmark. That’s my big dream.
“Hopefully this is the last time I have to answer whether I choose Nigeria. I can say that I am 100 per cent in Denmark. I only think these are rumours and that’s to get people talking. But there is nothing at all.”
