...with your brain" is Johan Cruyff'S most misquoted quote. Then along comes a perimershyte 'star' to prove it. I really look forward to seeing him, Matt le Tissier, Graeme Le Saux and "Digger".
Aside from the **** poor way he's phrased it, I think he has a point. As an ex-pat living in the US, I am technically eligible to naturalise and thus play for the United States (not that I'm good enough, I'm just talking about residency requirements). I'm not American, and I never will be. The concept of me playing for a national team other than England (again, ignoring the fact I'm not good enough) is ludicrous to me. I don't believe you should be eligible for a country unless you're either born there, or descended from naturally born citizens of that country (e.g. English parents moved abroad, baby born in another country but is eligible for England). Anything else makes somewhat of a mockery of the system. Certain countries have far more relaxed naturalisation laws than others, and I don't think naturalised citizens should be eligible on that basis. Anything else just encourages nationality tourism as players jockey to get on to the "best" international teams they can. It should be nipped in the bud now.
The fewer English players in the England team the better as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure Johnny Foreigner would play for the shirt more than the passionless tripe we have now.
Pietersen's mother is English isn't she ? FIFA did relax the qualification rules a couple of years ago or so. So unless you have played a competitive game for a country you can still be taken by another. Argentina are going to play Icardi in their next match so that Italy for example cannot pinch him. However when you have Spain calling up Diego Costa it is a bit laughable. He has even played for Brazil in friendlies and his footballing education was in Brazil. Residency is a bit of a loophole for some countries to exploit something which several Gulf States have used to earn medals at the Olympics by naturalizing Kenyans and Ethiopians. And the biggest 'culprit' in terms of sport has to be table tennis. I think lot's of countries have given up on taking China so instead have naturalized Chinese players instead. It could water down international football and there is the possibility richer federations and their clubs could lure kids from South America and Africa at a young age and then feed them into their national selection. However the pride these players like Messi for example have for their parent country has precluded this for the most part. It has worked well for some countries like several of the North , West African sides who would be weaker without many of the French born players who failing to make the grade with France decide to play for their parent's country of origin instead. Akin I suppose in rugby where NZ are accused of poaching South Sea Islanders who are for the most part actually Kiwi born and bred but with the quality NZ have turn to their parent's country of origin ie Samoa. With Januzaj in one sense it is a pretty damning indictment of the youth football system. In his case he should really either choose Belgium where he received his football education or the country of his parents with whom he identifies strongly namely Albania. We have the arguments that the cricket side and indeed rugby team have naturalized players from abroad but as mentioned with Pietersen, even someone like Rankin who can claim British nationality being an Ulsterman, Mike Catt, Mo Farah or Nath Chalobah who have grown up here from a young age and received their sporting education as Britons. However the case of the Kiwi who played for Tonga, NZ and then England in both league and union Lesley Vainikolo doesn't sit with me easily. An athlete should stick to representing one nation unless there are real issues they have with that country ie it splits, they are rendered persona non grata or there is considerable conflict within it and they are forced to flee. As you can see the whole issue and with globalization can be pretty murky so it is up to the authorities to tighten the regulations they relaxed. At the end of the day the players that pull on the shirt of a country irrespective of their origins should feel for that nation and have had their football education within it. To throw the question out there how would those of you who still follow the Three Lions feel if the team was composed of players who came to England aged 16-17 and qualified on residency alone ?
Unless you've already represented another country you should be eligable for whatever country you are a legal citizen of. I understand that people are upset with the amount of foreign players in the English game but the fundemental structure of the game needs to be changed to rectify this. Barring these players from representing England will not solve the game's issues, will isolate people who genuinely want to represent their adopted country and will further erode our chaces of winning anything.
the fact this is all apparently about that man utd guy (don't know how to spell his name, can't be ****ed to google it) is silly. the guy is turning down the belgian national team (a better team than england, and the country of his birth and childhood e.t.c) because he wants to represent kosovo. why, on the back of 2 goals and one really awful first half against sunderland, people think he should wait 5 years to qualify for england is beyond me. this guy aside, every other instance of nationalisation has, for the most part (tony dorigo), made sense in terms of parents nationality or heritage e.t.c
Isn't it a bit sad we're even thinking of having to look for players to who have "only" lived here for a few years to play for our country? Sums up the lack of quality coming through. BTW Surely the lad in question will want to play International football before 2018 - that's 5 years away.
We had this same conversation around a year ago. While all the German-Americans that came into the side under Klinsmann. People up in arms for a little then it died. Recently just capped a young player who represented Iceland at all youth levels. As far as I am concerned once you accept a senior team call up, that should be it for you.
