Irish-born Plymouth striker Owen Oseni invited to Super Eagles camp for Unity Cup

SUPER Eagles head coach Eric Chelle has invited Plymouth Argyle striker Owen Oseni to camp for the forthcoming Unity Cup tournament taking place in London later this month as part of his ambitious plan to try out new players.

Oseni, 23, plays for Plymouth, known as The Pilgrims in the third tier of English football called League One. Plymouth ended the season in eighth place, missing out on the play-offs but Oseni, who joined the club in June 2025, had a good year, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances for The Pilgrims.

Between May 26 and 30, the Unity Cup will take place in London with Nigeria participating alongside Jamaica, Zimbabwe and India. Taking place at The Valley, the home ground of English Championship side Charlton Athletic, the tournament will see Nigeria trying to defend the trophy she won last year after defeating Jamaica on penalties following a 2-2 draw in regulation time.

This time around, Nigeria will face Zimbabwe in the opening game on Tuesday, May 26 and then go on to face the winner of the Jamaica vs India game if they qualify for the final. Following the massive success of the 2025 edition, which saw Nigeria crowned champions at Brentford, the 2026 tournament marks a sentimental return to The Valley, where it was last hosted in 2004.

Mr Chelle has said that he will be using the tournament to try out several new players who can be added to the current Super Eagles pool. Reports from the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) camp indicate that Oseni has been included in the Nigeria squad for the tournament, along with other newcomers like Arthur Okonkwo of Wrexham and Femi Azeez of Milwall.

Born in Waterford in Ireland, Oseni is eligible to represent Nigeria, the country of his birth and Ivory Coast, where his mother is from. However, he pledged his international allegiance to Nigeria, and the NFF has subsequently acted on it with this invitation.

Apparently, the NFF have already sent a formal letter of invitation to Plymouth Argyle, informing the League One club of his call-up to the Nigeria squad. In terms of eligibility, there are no obstacles, with the player holding a valid Nigerian passport and he is yet to feature for either Ivory Coast or the Republic of Ireland at any level.

Of late, Ireland has successfully wooed several players of Nigerian extraction including the likes of Chiedozie Ogbene, Adam Idah, Gavin Bazunu, Festy Ebosele and Andrew Omobamidele. Tayo Adaramola (Sheffield Wednesday), Jaden Umeh (Benfica) and Aidomo Emakhu (Oxford United) have also all received their first senior Republic of Ireland call-ups ahead of an international friendly against Grenada on May 16.