AFCON 2025
Super Eagles veteran, Super Oliseh, says he gets upset anytime Michael Olise dons the French national team jersey.
According to the former Borussia Dortmund and Juventus midfielder, the 24-year-old should be playing for the Super Eagles of Nigeria instead of France.
Sunday Oliseh made this remark during his podcast, Global Football Insights with Oliseh, recently.
However, Oliseh went on to praise the winger as he admitted that he enjoys watching the Bayern Munich star.
“When I see Olise play, he gets me so angry. I’m just saying this guy should not be wearing the French national team jersey; he should be wearing the green-white-green of Nigeria,”
“And he’s so good. I have a confession to make. When he was doing great at Crystal Palace, I was saying to myself, ‘This guy is good, but maybe he’s missing something.
“But when I see him now at Bayern, I say to myself, ‘This guy one day might also contest for the Ballon d’Or because he is so good’.
“Now you are seeing defenders feeling helpless against him; they even foul him and insult him to provoke him, and he’s a quiet person”.
“When I see Olise play, he gets me so angry. I’m just saying this guy should not be wearing the French national team jersey; he should be wearing the green-white-green of Nigeria,” Oliseh said on Global Football Insights with Oliseh.
“This is why our people are funny. Some even sent messages asking why I sabotaged us—your son went to play for France. He’s not my son, and his own Olise does not even have an ‘h’ at the end of it.”
Despite his disappointment over Olise’s international choice, Oliseh was full of praise for the Bayern Munich dazzler.
“And he’s so good. I have a confession to make. When he was doing great at Crystal Palace, I was saying to myself, ‘This guy is good, but maybe he’s missing something.
“But when I see him now at Bayern, I say to myself, ‘This guy one day might also contest for the Ballon d’Or because he is so good’.
“Now you are seeing defenders feeling helpless against him; they even foul him and insult him to provoke him, and he’s a quiet person”.
Michael Oliseh made his debut for France in a UEFA Nations League clash with Italy in September 2024 and has scored four goals and provided three assists in fifteen appearances.
Before he made a cap-tying appearance for France, Olise qualified to represent Nigeria through his father, England by birth, and Algeria through his mother’s heritage.As the then quad-national player, Olise represented only France.
He featured at U18, U21, U23, and senior levels. Although the Nigeria Football Federation tried hard to persuade Olise to play for the Super Eagles, their efforts failed because he had already committed to representing Les Bleus.
Former Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr named him in the squad for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho, but Olise did not feature in either match.
He also skipped a planned meeting with former NFF president Amaju Pinnick in London ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Michael’s younger brother, Chelsea right-back Richard Olise, still qualifies to play for Nigeria, even though he represents England’s Young Lions.
