West Bromwich striker, Peter Odemwingie, says he could well have been a Russian international, but opted for Nigeria because of his father.

­Odemwingie was born in 1981 in Uzbekistan, which was part of the USSR back than. His family then moved to Moscow where the young man learned to play football in the CSKA academy.

The 29-year-old confessed to Sportbox.ru that it was his Nigerian father, who helped him to make up his mind about an international career.

“Mom did not mind that I played for Uzbekistan or Russia. But I chose Nigeria many years ago and will never regret it. Defending the colors of my country is an honor. I feel happy,” Odemwingie said.

The striker left Lokomotiv Moscow last summer and moved to West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League, where he is displaying the best football of his career.   

“I’m very happy with how things are going. For me the season goes on very successfully. I feel at home in England. Local football suits me very well. My team had a difficult period, but we once again climbed higher in the standings, and I am optimistic about the future,” the player said.   

Odemwingie has scored 12 goals for West Brom, which makes him believe he’ll be able to break his season scoring record in his first year in England. 

”This is one of my goals. I never scored more than 14 goals in one season and I have five more games to do so. But whatever happens, it was an amazing year for me. I’ve already got 12 goals, after all,” Odemwingie explained.   

Italian giants Juventus have recently expressed interest in the player’s services, but the Nigerian international is in no hurry to switch clubs.   

“You never know what awaits you around the corner in football. One thing I can say with confidence is that I'm happy at West Bromwich and don’t want to go anywhere, although I can’t rule out the possibility of the transfer. In any case, I’m thankful to the club, which gave me a chance to play in the English Premier League,” he stressed.