International: Sylvester Jasper faces tough decision on England, Bulgaria or Nigeria
Bristol Rovers winger, Sylvester Jasper, has said he was yet to decide on who he will represent in international football.
The 21-year-old is eligible for three countries; England, Bulgaria and Nigeria, but has not yet pledged his allegiance to one country.
Jasper was born in London and came through the Queens Park Rangers academy before joining Fulham, who are his parent club.
His parents however come from different continents with his dad being from Nigeria, whilst his mum is Bulgarian. He represented the Three Lions at under-15’s level but last year he played for his mum’s country of birth.
Capped four-times at Under-21’s level for Bulgaria, he played for them as recently as March, but hasn’t yet committed fully to representing them.
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His family however on his mum’s side have been able to watch him in action and got to see him represent her country in vital qualifying matches.
Opening up on his story, he explained: “My mum is fully Bulgarian, my dad is from Nigeria. Last season, I represented them for the first time.
“It was a nice experience, my family are from Bulgaria, my family got to see me play for the first time live which was cool.”
International football throws up opportunities such as playing against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo in qualifying matches, taking players to different countries to explore new cultures.
Neither Bulgaria or Nigeria have qualified for the World Cup, but both could be an option to Jasper should he impress either manager with a good run of form at the Memorial Stadium.
“I haven’t decided what country I am going to be playing for yet,” he revealed.
“I could represent England, Nigeria or Bulgaria. I feel like I am good enough to play for all three personally.”
Jasper’s first task will be to get into Joey Barton’s starting eleven after four consecutive substitute appearances.
He played 61 minutes since joining on Deadline Day from West London, and has shown glimpses of what he can do.
“I’m taking it one step at a time,” he said.
“I’ve got to establish a place in the team and start playing how I know I can play. We’ll see what happens.”