Leicester City defender Ashleigh Plumptre says she is proud of her Nigerian heritage.
Plumptre was cleared by FIFA to represent Nigeria in January and made her debut for the Super Falcons against Cote d’l voire last week Friday.
The 23-year-old says she “grew up British” but added that she got a “great sense of pride” when she first travelled to Nigeria to meet up with her new international teammates.
“It’s always been an assumption that I’m white,” Plumptre told BBC East Midlands Today.
“I get a lot of messages and people question my heritage a lot, but I can’t necessarily blame them. It comes down to education. What people see is what they think. People don’t want to have the conversation or want to consider anything deeper than what they see.
“It’s putting a marker down. It’s not just what you predict a Nigerian to be. For me, I know the importance of representing something bigger than me.
“I’m representing the mixed-race community and especially for the younger ones coming through. You don’t have to look a certain way or be told you are a certain way, you can feel it and you can be it.” (Completesports)
