Playing for England
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2013 1:22 pm
Cant's see a thread on here regarding the big debate that's being had started by Jack Wilshere stating he didnt think Januzaj should be eligible for England.
I actually agree with him personally 100%, I think it's embarrassing that we are even trying to approach the lad if it's true.
I know Pieterson has kicked off on twitter to him being a foreigner that's obviously represented England for some time. I dont't know too much about the cricketers and how they have become eligible. Is it just through residency after a number of years or do they have relatives that are British ?
For me if they have just moved to the country to work or play sport then they are not English or British.
I think it's different if you get someone like Fabrice Muamba as an example. Someone who as a child has moved to the country but has been raised and educated here. That for me is just about ok.
I'm not having it though that we can just say to someone like Arteta (who it was mooted in the past) now you have lived here over 5 years you can play for England. That for me is nonsense and makes even more of a farce out of international football.
Has that Diego Costa now stated that he wants to play for Spain ? But he has already played for Brazil ? That's ridiculous if he has and he should be told to feck off.
Anyway what's everyone else's thoughts on it all ? Not just the footy i suppose, also the other sports ?
Jack Wilshere enters the Januzaj debate: 'Keep England for the English'• Wilshere believes naturalised players should not be allowed
• 'If I went to Spain for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain'
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Email Dominic Fifield The Guardian, Tuesday 8 October 2013 23.00 BST
'For me an English player should play for England,' says the Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Jack Wilshere has called into question the Football Association's desire to gain Adnan Januzaj's international allegiance and insisted becoming naturalised after living in England for a period of time "does not make you English".
The Manchester United manager David Moyes revealed in the wake of Januzaj's eye-catching two goals in victory at Sunderland that the FA had previously been in contact with the club to establish whether the 18-year-old could play for England. The teenager was born in Brussels to Kosovan-Albanian parents and is therefore eligible to represent Belgium, Albania, Turkey, Serbia and Kosovo, who have yet to be recognised by Fifa.
Belgium sought to secure his allegiance earlier this week only for Januzaj to reject the chance of a senior call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Croatia and Wales this month, claiming the offer had come too early in his career. The national coach Marc Wilmots will make further attempts to persuade the teenager to link up with his squad, though the England manager Roy Hodgson, preparing for his own qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland, had indicated on Saturday that he has noted the forward's recent progress.
According to Fifa statutes a player is eligible to play for a country if he has "lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 in the territory of the relevant association", meaning Januzaj would have to wait until 2018, when he is 23, to be able to represent England. "No, for me, if you are English, you are English, and you play for England," said Wilshere, who is hoping to gain an 11th cap against Montenegro on Friday. "The only people who should play for England are English people.
"If you've lived in England for five years, for me, it doesn't make you English. You shouldn't play. It doesn't mean you can play for that country. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain. For me an English player should play for England really." Asked whether the same criteria should apply to managers of the national side, the midfielder added: "I think it's better if there is an Englishman [in charge], but don't get me wrong, Fabio Capello did a lot for my England career. He brought me here, gave me my debut and stuck with me form a young age, so he was a good manager as well."
Januzaj's sudden rise to prominence has highlighted the issue of naturalisation at a time when the lack of young English players making a mark in Premier League first-teams has already provoked the new FA chairman, Greg Dyke, to call for radical action to keep the England team competitive.
The recently appointed Under-21s manager, Gareth Southgate, pointed to two-thirds of his current squad having played for a senior side, whether in the Premier League or Football League, last weekend as reason for encouragement and was more philosophical on the Januzaj issue.
"It's a difficult one," he said. "He's not played for anyone else, so it's slightly different to some of our [England] cricketers. We seem to have embraced the England cricket team that have won the Ashes, and as far as I'm aware the majority of them have come in because they are good players, all for slightly different reasons perhaps. Historically we would have viewed it in a certain way, but the world is evolving. We have lots of boys in our squad who weren't born here but whose families have fled here, and they're all incredibly proud to play for England.
"The world is changing, families are moving more and more, and working abroad. It's important to know why somebody would want to play for you, and had he played for somebody else that would be more of an issue for me. But if you've not played for anybody then it's a greyer area in my view."
I actually agree with him personally 100%, I think it's embarrassing that we are even trying to approach the lad if it's true.
I know Pieterson has kicked off on twitter to him being a foreigner that's obviously represented England for some time. I dont't know too much about the cricketers and how they have become eligible. Is it just through residency after a number of years or do they have relatives that are British ?
For me if they have just moved to the country to work or play sport then they are not English or British.
I think it's different if you get someone like Fabrice Muamba as an example. Someone who as a child has moved to the country but has been raised and educated here. That for me is just about ok.
I'm not having it though that we can just say to someone like Arteta (who it was mooted in the past) now you have lived here over 5 years you can play for England. That for me is nonsense and makes even more of a farce out of international football.
Has that Diego Costa now stated that he wants to play for Spain ? But he has already played for Brazil ? That's ridiculous if he has and he should be told to feck off.
Anyway what's everyone else's thoughts on it all ? Not just the footy i suppose, also the other sports ?
Jack Wilshere enters the Januzaj debate: 'Keep England for the English'• Wilshere believes naturalised players should not be allowed
• 'If I went to Spain for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain'
Share Tweet this
Email Dominic Fifield The Guardian, Tuesday 8 October 2013 23.00 BST
'For me an English player should play for England,' says the Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere. Photograph: Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images
Jack Wilshere has called into question the Football Association's desire to gain Adnan Januzaj's international allegiance and insisted becoming naturalised after living in England for a period of time "does not make you English".
The Manchester United manager David Moyes revealed in the wake of Januzaj's eye-catching two goals in victory at Sunderland that the FA had previously been in contact with the club to establish whether the 18-year-old could play for England. The teenager was born in Brussels to Kosovan-Albanian parents and is therefore eligible to represent Belgium, Albania, Turkey, Serbia and Kosovo, who have yet to be recognised by Fifa.
Belgium sought to secure his allegiance earlier this week only for Januzaj to reject the chance of a senior call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Croatia and Wales this month, claiming the offer had come too early in his career. The national coach Marc Wilmots will make further attempts to persuade the teenager to link up with his squad, though the England manager Roy Hodgson, preparing for his own qualifiers against Montenegro and Poland, had indicated on Saturday that he has noted the forward's recent progress.
According to Fifa statutes a player is eligible to play for a country if he has "lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 in the territory of the relevant association", meaning Januzaj would have to wait until 2018, when he is 23, to be able to represent England. "No, for me, if you are English, you are English, and you play for England," said Wilshere, who is hoping to gain an 11th cap against Montenegro on Friday. "The only people who should play for England are English people.
"If you've lived in England for five years, for me, it doesn't make you English. You shouldn't play. It doesn't mean you can play for that country. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I'm not going to play for Spain. For me an English player should play for England really." Asked whether the same criteria should apply to managers of the national side, the midfielder added: "I think it's better if there is an Englishman [in charge], but don't get me wrong, Fabio Capello did a lot for my England career. He brought me here, gave me my debut and stuck with me form a young age, so he was a good manager as well."
Januzaj's sudden rise to prominence has highlighted the issue of naturalisation at a time when the lack of young English players making a mark in Premier League first-teams has already provoked the new FA chairman, Greg Dyke, to call for radical action to keep the England team competitive.
The recently appointed Under-21s manager, Gareth Southgate, pointed to two-thirds of his current squad having played for a senior side, whether in the Premier League or Football League, last weekend as reason for encouragement and was more philosophical on the Januzaj issue.
"It's a difficult one," he said. "He's not played for anyone else, so it's slightly different to some of our [England] cricketers. We seem to have embraced the England cricket team that have won the Ashes, and as far as I'm aware the majority of them have come in because they are good players, all for slightly different reasons perhaps. Historically we would have viewed it in a certain way, but the world is evolving. We have lots of boys in our squad who weren't born here but whose families have fled here, and they're all incredibly proud to play for England.
"The world is changing, families are moving more and more, and working abroad. It's important to know why somebody would want to play for you, and had he played for somebody else that would be more of an issue for me. But if you've not played for anybody then it's a greyer area in my view."