Musiala ready for ‘special’ clash against ‘second home’ England
Nigeria born Germany’s record-breaking teenager Jamal Musiala insists there will be no mixed emotions in Tuesday’s Euro 2020 clash with “second home” England.
The Bayern Munich midfielder Musiala, 18, became Germany’s youngest player to feature in a major tournament when he came on against Hungary last week.
The former Chelsea academy player, born in Stuttgart to a British-Nigerian father and German mother, opted to represent his birth country in February this year having already represented England at Under-21 level.
When asked if Germany’s last-16 tie at Wembley will be a difficult game for him emotionally, Musiala told the German Football Association’s website: “No, I made a conscious decision to play for Germany.
“But of course it’s no ordinary game for me. England is my second home and I had a lot of great years there, made a lot of friends and learnt a great deal.
“I don’t want to forget my time there and it’s not something you can just shrug off. It will be a special match for me.”
Musiala played in two games for England Under-21s and became good friends with Jude Bellingham after the pair played alongside each other for various England age groups. Bellingham will turn 18 on Tuesday.
“We talked about the possibility of it happening ahead of the Hungary game,” Musiala said. “He said that we’ll see each other soon and that we will swap kits after the game.
“It will be nice to see him again. It’s been a few years since we played together for England.
“We even played against Germany together, and now we’re coming up against each other at a major tournament – it’s something really special for both of us.”
Musiala moved from Germany to the UK with his family aged seven and spent most of his childhood years at Chelsea.
He returned to Germany to join Bayern Munich when he was 16 and became the youngest player to play a Bundesliga match for Bayern, aged 17 years and 115 days, in June last year.
read also Nigeria born Bayern ace Jamal Musiala opts to play for Germany
Musiala made his senior debut for Germany against Iceland in March and in last week’s group decider against Hungary stepped off the bench to help set up a crucial late equaliser.