Apparently he is taking back his comments about being "proud to be a Geordie" ... and he has stressed that MANY TIMES during his career ... and now he is Nigerian.
Which just happens to be very handy now that Nigeria have qualified for the World Cup!
He has represented England at Under-21 level but is eligible to play for Nigeria after being born and spending the first six years of his life in the African country.
World governing body FIFA have changed the rules on players changing nationalities and Ameobi is eligible to play for Nigeria.
Ameobi (talking to The Mirror): “It was a great honour for me to represent England at Under-21 level and my mum and dad were so proud of me.
“But they would love to see me play for Nigeria. I see myself as Nigerian, I was born and bred there.
“It’s not about changing allegiances. I’ve got Nigerian roots and I’m proud of my country, the country where I was born and spent the first five or six years of my life.
“Playing at the World Cup is the pinnacle of any player’s career. It’s what you dream of and if I can do that with Nigeria then that would be fantastic for me.
“They have been in touch before to see whether I was interested. In the past, I chose not to so I could concentrate on helping Newcastle.
“But I have reached a stage in my career where I would love to play international football and realistically it’s not going to happen with England.
“As I say, Nigeria is the country of my birth and if the coach is open to it then it’s something I would love to do, at the African Nations Cup and the World Cup.”
“We have talked about it and I would like to think that maybe I could add something to the team and help my country.
“2010 is a big year for Nigeria. The African Nation Cup is the same for us as the European Championships is in Europe. It’s a tournament I would love to play in.
“It has been frustrating to have missed the last few games but I’m coming back and should be fully fit in the next two or three weeks.
“I think we all as a group of players had to try and regain our sense of pride after relegation. We went down and the only way to get our pride back was to get promoted again.
“Newcastle is so close to my heart. I’m a fan of the club, too, and it’s not easy to accept such disappointments. It’s important we get back to where we belong.
“The spirit is strong and I think that was evident from the first day of pre-season and that’s shown through in our performances.”
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