Albion defender Leon Balogun has revealed he was racially abused growing up in Germany and wanted them to lose because they were "arrogant" and their football was "boring".

The World Cup stopper's Nigerian father moved to Germany in 1966.

Balogun was playing under-16s football in Berlin when his dad had a row with a rival player's parents.

Balogun, speaking on the Players' Tribune website, said: "We were up 1–0 at half-time and as I was walking to the locker room, the striker kicked the ball at my head.

"It missed me by about an inch. I turned and he was yelling at me. He was calling me the n-word, using other racial slurs."

Balogun's father later let rip at the boy's parents and told them: "I hope that you can one day fill his heart with love, instead of hate."

Balogun, who made his World Cup finals debut for Nigeria in Saturday's 2-0 defeat against Croatia in Russia, said: "I think because my dad worked so hard to integrate into society in Germany, it gave me the opportunity to do the opposite and connect with my Nigerian roots.

"I never supported the German national team, mostly because I thought they were arrogant and their football was boring to watch.

"Even in 2006, when Germany hosted and the whole country had World Cup mania — I secretly cheered for them to lose. Because I was a kid and I was rebellious.

"And because, even though I felt in my mind that I was just as German as all the other kids, a lot of people didn't see me like that.

"I was always asked 'Where are you from?' Or 'How long have have you been here?'

"I would think to myself sometimes, maybe I was meant to be Nigerian."

Balogun played in Germany for Hannover, Werder Bremen, Fortuna Dusseldorf, Darmstadt and Mainz before joining Albion last month.

He recovered from injury to face Croatia but was helpless to prevent a 2-0 defeat in Nigeria's opening group game via new Stoke midfielder Oghenekaro Etebo's own goal and a Luka Modric penalty.

Nigeria play Iceland next on Friday (4pm).

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/leon-balogun-nigeria