After making his official Super Eagles debut in Kamusi on Friday, Nigerian defender Calvin Bassey has finally expressed his emotions regarding African football.

Calvin Bassey made his debut appearance for the Eagles in a World Cup playoff against the Black Stars of Ghana last weekend, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute to replace Zaidu Sanusi.

Calvin Bassey and Joe Aribo

Bassey only played 16 minutes for the Eagles in an encounter that ended in a goalless draw at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

Calvin Bassey comes on for his Nigeria debut. #WCQ2022 pic.twitter.com/iEVGWZp3uJ

— Football24/7 (@foet247europa) March 25, 2022

African football, according to the 22-year-old, is much more physical, and he must learn to adapt to the surroundings, the pitch, and the weather.

Calvin Bassey, speaking after the first leg of the World Cup playoffs, said:

“It was an honour to represent this great nation. Playing in Africa is a lot more physical, it’s just adjusting to the environment, the pitch and the weather. It’s harder to breathe so it’s just adjusting to it.”

Calvin Bassey & Ademola Lookman made their debut in Kumasi replacing Zaidu & Simon Moses for the final 15 mins.

Emmanuel Dennis who missed #AFCON2021 also made an appearance.

Were you impressed by their contribution?

Did they show enough quality to suggest a starting berth? pic.twitter.com/8MCHoaw4cf

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Leon Balogun and Joe Aribo, two of Bassey’s Rangers teammates, are also in the Nigeria squad.

Both started against Ghana, and the defender confessed that having more familiar faces has made things simpler for him.

Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun

“The reception has been amazing. I’ve known some of the boys for quite a while and they are all welcoming. They are a good bunch of boys with experience that I can learn from.” Bassey said.

𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕? 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒙!