blue-shifted
Banned
They can't afford him ...... not even joking
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[Albion] Sanchez: England or Spain?
- Thread starter macbeth
- Start date
They can't afford him ...... not even joking
Bombadier Botty
Complete Twaddle
- Jun 2, 2008
- 3,258
Not ‘silly’ at all, if anything your Johnson analogy is ridiculous, he spent three months in New York after his birth before his English parents returned to the UK, he was never a US national, talk about clutching at straws, and as for bringing race into it, do me a favour! Sanchez is about as English as the Vunipola brothers who play rugby for England or Jaco van der Walt who plays for Scotland. It’s obviously a subjective debate, but Sanchez for England, not for me.
How did you feel about Owen Hargreaves?
Bombadier Botty
Complete Twaddle
- Jun 2, 2008
- 3,258
Go to bed, Swanny.
Hargreaves parents are both British (one of them English). Not a very valid comparison
Hargreaves parents are both British (one of them English). Not a very valid comparison
In some ways not a perfect comparison I guess but he didnt live in England until he was 25 or something. What is "more English", to live in England from the age of 15 or to have English parents while growing up on a different continent?
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo
I believe in Joe Hendry
- Oct 4, 2003
- 12,063
Actually Boris was a dual US-UK national until 2016. He renounced his US citizenship in protest at their tax laws that saw him have to pay US capital gains tax on property he sold in the UK.
The latter, by a huge distance, in my opinion.
or John Barnes
EDIT: Beaten to it. (Note to self, read the whole thread before posting)
Last edited:
Neville's Breakfast
Well-known member
There is a good case for qualification by both scenarios but in a comparison I would say the latter. My kids spent some of their childhoods living abroad but always remained English.
blue-shifted
Banned
This misses the point.
In a situation where there is legally dual nationality, the individual should be determining their nationality for international football purposes by whichever country has the stronger emotional pull on them.
We can't know this. However, there are some players from other sports where it is blatantly obvious that the decision has been made for financial reasons, in fact the whole reason they moved to that country was part of a medium plan.
Thankfully this is quite rare in football, though every time someone makes a logical or financial, rather than emotional decision about where their allegiances lie international football loses some of its sparkle ... and it doesn't have loads to lose at the moment
Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo
I believe in Joe Hendry
- Oct 4, 2003
- 12,063
He didn't even hold a British passport when he was first picked for England. The rules were so different back then that he could have played for any of the four home nations. He was once quoted in the Jamaican press as saying something like "I only played for England because they asked first, if Scotland had asked you go and play for Scotland."
That is dependent on many factors, for example, there are people born in this country but their parents have immersed them in their own culture the same way that Hargreaves parents, whilst working in Germany, may well have brought him up with English values?
On the general point of residency, I have not problem with someone representing their adopted country however, I would suggest that it should be a rule that once you have played for one country in a competitive game then that's it, you can't qualify for another. In Rugby Union, it seems there are former 'All Blacks' playing for a host of different countries!
Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
Firstly, what a fantastic dilemma for him should it arise.
Second, If I were him I'd choose Spain, it'd be the country of my birth, where I was raised, the country of my parents and family.
Third, if he chose England, great!
Second, If I were him I'd choose Spain, it'd be the country of my birth, where I was raised, the country of my parents and family.
Third, if he chose England, great!
Agree it depends on a lot of things. In Spain there is currently a young Swedish/Spanish player. Both his parents are Swedish but as they've been living in Spain for a long time with no intention to move, they thought it was better to teach the kid Spanish. Now he made his debut a couple of weeks ago in the Spanish cup and there's some talk about him maybe getting called up to the Swedish U19 national team. But he doesnt know a word Swedish, never lived here and probably not visited more than a couple of times. Despite his two parents being Swedish, I dont feel he is necessarily "more Swedish" than some bloke who moved here from Iran or something as a kid and now speaks fluent Swedish.
So indeed its a lot about circumstances, every case is different.
As for the rule, there is one like that. It changed recently to be a little bit more lenient:
The FIFA Congress 2020 this week voted to pass changes to eligibility for national teams. The biggest changes mean that players are no longer tied to a national team on the basis of a single appearance when they were younger.
Players can now switch national teams provided they were eligible to represent a second country at the time they first played for their first country, even if they have played in an official competition for the first nation.
This applies so long as they have played no more than three matches (including friendlies), none of the matches were in the final tournament of the FIFA World Cup or confederation competition, and they all happened before the player turned 21.
Its a great rule and I think football is maybe the only sports where it exists.
DarrenFreemansPerm
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Same reason why people wanted Almunia and Arteta to play for England, they qualify to do so and were better than what we had.
You could have a similar conversation about how Colombian is the Camden born Steven Alzate!
Yup. Same answer in the end as well: its up to him.
schmunk
Why oh why oh why?
Or the Ir-ish Chris Hughton...
