Luca Koleosho spent months, if not years, removing the daisy from the national shirt he was supposed to wear. That’s why we have so many different passports. Born in Connecticut, USA, to a Nigerian father and Italian-Canadian mother, And he lives in Spain, where he works at Espanyol, where he made his elite debut almost a year ago, while still a minor, at the end of the 2021–22 league in Granada. A relevant fact that would be worthwhile for the trip to the World Cup in Qatar. And that leaves several doors open for the future.
In Canada’s last two appearances in June (when he was unfortunate enough to pull out two friendlies) and September, Koleosho failed to make his debut. Coach John Herdman even stated that the attacker would have many opportunities to take part in the World Cup if he stayed in the Espanyol first team. But not with them. Certainly not everything is Herdman’s responsibility, as Koleosho has been suffering from ankle problems since August, which, without elaborating, left him out of some calls with Diego Martnez in command in the early stages of the league in what he gave him: ten minutes on Matchday 1 against Celta and 13 minutes on Matchday 2 against Rayo Vallecano
But here, coincidentally or not, Koleosho’s road to internationality was reopened by the United States, a connection that has long seduced him. Unsurprisingly, he has been cited in lower categories. He played with the Sub-15, and a year ago, in April 2022, he was part of a training camp with the Sub-20. If he continues the development anticipated at the age of 18, he will have an important decision on his hands for the future, as the 2026 World Cup is oddly being played between Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
As if having two nationalities and two World Championship teams weren’t enough, a third and more powerful path was opened to Koleosho. His current focus is on Germany with the Italy U19 national team, which not only called him up to compete in the Eurocup in that category but has already given him his debut. Specifically, it was published last Saturday in the 89th minute of the game against Slovenia (0-0). And they can repeat that against Belgium this Tuesday in Bremen.
Now all he would need is a phone call from Nigeria; otherwise, he would start the procedures for his naturalization in Spain, where he has lived since 2016, when he was 11 years old, to complete a poker or re-poker procedure for candidates claiming his services. Meanwhile, Espanyol continues to grow, being present in many training sessions in the first-team dynamic but at a more discreet pace in the competition with the subsidiary in the second RFEF.
