Kahn: No Ailton, Thank you

[MyHouse!]

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany skipper Oliver Kahn has criticised plans to allow Brazilian-born striker Ailton to play for the national team, it was reported.

"I don't think it's a good idea," the Bayern Munich goalkeeper told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"When a player wants to be in the national team, he must at least have a relationship with the country. He must be born here and have spent some years in the country.


"Otherwise, its German identity is at risk of being lost."

The 30-year-old Ailton, who has never played for the Brazilian national side, helped Werder Bremen to the German title last season will spend the 2004-05 campaign with Schalke 04.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fbl_ger_bra_kahn_ailton&prov=afp&type=lgns


My question:
Did he say the same thing when Gerald Asamoah (born in Ghana) suited up for Germany for the 2002 WC?

[SirManchester]

I think Kahn has a personal vendetta against Brazilians. I don't blame him though because Ailton never showed that he is remotely interested in playing for the German national side. He disrespected the Shalke fans as well which to me doesn't come off as someone who would wish to represent them on the national stage.

Another thing: Making a Brazilian born striker play for the German national side isn't going to solve their problems up front. Ailton is getting old and I don't think he is going to have it in him anymore in the future. Germany needs to focus their attention on the German youth, not on foreign players. That is the whole point of appointing Klinsman as the coach, to train and develop the youth system which there is a lot of potential in.

[Soccerfever]

Another thing: Making a Brazilian born striker play for the German national side isn't going to solve their problems up front. Ailton is getting old and I don't think he is going to have it in him anymore in the future. Germany needs to focus their attention on the German youth, not on foreign players. That is the whole point of appointing Klinsman as the coach, to train and develop the youth system which there is a lot of potential in.

Exactly!Ailton just wants to play in a World Cup so he's willing to say anything to get his place but he has zero chances!

[adri]

Making a Brazilian born striker play for the German national side isn't going to solve their problems up front.

they have a brazilian born striker. Kevin Kuranyi. born in brazil. seriously! :)

[worldfootballgenius]

they have a brazilian born striker. Kevin Kuranyi. born in brazil. seriously! :)

NOt just born, he was raised there until he was 14... to a panamanian and german heritage. He's the tab ramos of Germany. Except he isn't any good.

[SC Pfullendorf]

I think Kahn has a personal vendetta against Brazilians. I don't blame him though because Ailton never showed that he is remotely interested in playing for the German national side.

Actually he did say that he'd love to play for the German national team. This was last fall/winter before all that drama with Qatar went down. Rudi Voeller was the one that shot that idea down.

I searched for the article I read, I believe I got it off Sky Sports or FSW originally; however, I could no longer find the exact link. I found this article which is a copy of the story I recall only on a server I am unfamiliar with. http://nhl.nextads.net/game54.htm

[  ]

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany skipper Oliver Kahn has criticised plans to allow Brazilian-born striker Ailton to play for the national team, it was reported.

"I don't think it's a good idea," the Bayern Munich goalkeeper told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"When a player wants to be in the national team, he must at least have a relationship with the country. He must be born here and have spent some years in the country.


"Otherwise, its German identity is at risk of being lost."

The 30-year-old Ailton, who has never played for the Brazilian national side, helped Werder Bremen to the German title last season will spend the 2004-05 campaign with Schalke 04.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fbl_ger_bra_kahn_ailton&prov=afp&type=lgns


My question:
Did he say the same thing when Gerald Asamoah (born in Ghana) suited up for Germany for the 2002 WC?


I can't find anything of this sort in the German news, I highly doubt this is true.

For those that mention about Kuranyi and Asamoah, at least there is a connection. Kuranyi has German heritage and Asamoah has been living in Germany since very young. I will have to respect for this national team if Ailton plays.

[F96]

I can't find anything of this sort in the German news, I highly doubt this is true.

For those that mention about Kuranyi and Asamoah, at least there is a connection. Kuranyi has German heritage and Asamoah has been living in Germany since very young. I will have to respect for this national team if Ailton plays.

Exactly.
Gerald Asamoah came to Hannover when he was 12, he grew up here, his sister works as a hair-dresser in Hannover and his parents own a shop here, they were working here even before Gerald joined them.

I do not want Ailton to play for Germany, it's a disgusting idea, Dundee and Rink shouldn't have played a single match for Germany either.

[F96]

I can't find anything of this sort in the German news, I highly doubt this is true.

http://www.handelsblatt.com/pshb/fn/relhbi/sfn/buildhbi/bmc/cn_hnavi/bmc/cn_artikel_sport/strucid/PAGE_200015/pageid/PAGE_200271/docid/124727/SH/0/depot/0/

[SirManchester]

Forget Ailton, the guy doesn't deserve a place in the national team. If this guy is going to put on the beautiful jersey then this might continue to become a trend and german born strikers will never be able to resurface.

[prk166]

Goes to show how desperate Germany is right now for someone who can score goals.

[Dead Fingers]

Are there any young German forwards that could possibly be in the mix in two years?

[ghazi]

In Ailton's defense, he has been vocal in his desire to play for Germany for the past 2 years, when it became a possibility.

I thought it was rather disheartening to hear Voeller and others say that he does not really belong on the German national team cuz he isnt German. The man moved there, loves the country, received his citizenship and wants to live there for the rest of his life. What more does he have to do in order to prove his loyalty?

You may bring up his attempt to play for Qatar, but that was only after the sting of rejection.

Imagine France without Viera (born in Senegal), and all the Dutch players born in Suriname (like Davids). Are they not considered true members of their teams?

For me, his exclusion is not only moronic (because the Euro's showed the lack of quality strikers on the German team), but it smacks of superiority in the form of a birthright.

Ailton cannot control where he was born. but he can choose where he lives, the citizenship he takes, and the nation where he wants to live. Certainly those factors should bear more weight than Voeller and others are giving them.

[SirManchester]

THen why did he act like an idiot and showed total disrespect to the Shalke fans? THat doesn't look like someone who is eager to play in Germany, let alone represent the country.

[RickJames-says!]

lets face it
Germany needs all the help they can get. Ballack, as good as he is, can not do it all. Ailton is no long-term solution. But Germany could be severly embarrassed in this next WC. By not making it out of the group stage in Euro 2004, struggling to beating Korea, USA and being ultimatly trashed by Brazil in the final, Kahn should be more opened minded.

[Lestard]

The man moved there, loves the country,..

he loves it so much, that he didnt learn the language yet ^^
all he can say is:
"Ailton schiessen Tore" , "Ailton spielen Champions League" =)

IMO he doesn't belong to the German NT and we have enough young forwarders who just need a chance.

[  ]

I will have to respect for this national team if Ailton plays.


Just to clarify, I meant "I will have NO respect for this national team if Ailton plays."

Those who think Ailton will benefit Germany by playing for the national team; can I just ask, will he be usefull in two years time? He is 30 already right?

Hannover96Girl, I cannot read the article because I am too lazy to register. Can you post the article here or summarise who's crazy idea this is? Please don't tell me Klinsmann.

[shutoutj]

I don't know, he probably deserves it, but it wouldn't make us look good.
Maybe if he changed his name to Gerhard Ailton or something like that? :D
just kidding
If he insulted Schalke, we shouldn't hold it against him for something like this; Italian players do that kind of thing all the time. They turn the game into a soap opera.
We shouldn't not let him play for the Nationalelf because he wasn't born in Germany, I would play for Germany given the chance, and I was born in the USA.
If he truly loves the country, that's what really counts.
By 2006, Podolski will be better than him. Maybe Auer too. So he should be used for the friendlies only.
I do have a feeling that he's just looking to play internationally, but we should give him a chance.

[gaijin]

Funny when a footballer opens his mouth, nothing but garbage spills out. Quite frankly I will admit that the new Fifa laws regarding nationality are a big bonus to allow non-nationals to gain citizenship and play for their respective "adopted" countries.

Whilst Kahn believes it would no doubt disenfranchise and down grade the national team. Fact of the matter is, :eek: Germany is very multicultural. In fact only one of the strikers taken to Euro 2004 was born in Germany, Thomas Brdaric.

Asamoah really did break boundaries by becoming the first black player to play for Germany. Ask Olisadebe who received his polish passport, just in time to solt two home against Ukraine in Kyiv.

In many respects, i do feel what Khan is saying to be true. We need to establish boundaries of what is and what isn't acceptable.
By all means, if Ailton gains German citizenship like many have done naturally in the past, then so be it. He can proudly proclaim he is german. If this is a question of his footballing skills, then evidence needs to be looked at. Why should Ailton take precendent over another foreign worker?

I think it was Armenia who wanted to take a couple of argentians into the national squad by giving them armenian passports. Flatly Fifa stepped in. This did prove the system is being cheated and abused.

In my opinion, one should ask themselves this. Where was I born? Where did I grow up (i.e school, education, etc) and what are my mother and father's nationality.

Certain countries like Norway do not permit someone to gain nationality via birth-right only by their parental heritage. So if you're born in Oslo and your parents are scottish... Tough luck you can't play for Norway.

If you are born and have lived there for a large part of your live and you call it "home" then thats good enough. If your mother and your father have a nationality of a place, they have called "home", then so be it.

I have a little story which i'll share to illustrate my opinions .My friend was born in what was then Yugoslavia, but emigrated to France during the civil war. His parents are actually fully-fledged citizens of the republic of Croatia, because they were born in areas which were Croatian. Although he has a Croatian passport, he's never really stayed longer than 3 months there. He grew up in France and can choice any national path he wants. If someone was to step in and say "Oh i'm sorry you're not really Croatian are you." Thats stupid. All of family are croatian except him beacuse he moved away and happened to be born in Yugoslavia (serbija.) His heart is probably more loyal to the croatian flag than that of France. Anways this is just a complex tale into this subject. Everyone should be judged on their individual merits.

I do think its daft having people who have been in a country for 2 minutes playing international football. The current Irish setup is one to note. (especially now, getting an Irish passport is easy as hell.)

If we want a team full of foreigners who speak the language fluently, then just support France. ;)

[gaijin]

To back up my point: What striker was born in Germany?

Fredi Bobic - born in Slovenia

Kevin Kuranyi - born in Brazil (father has Hungarian heritage)

Mirolsav Klose - born in Poland

Lukas Podolski - born in Poland

Only striker not - oh yes Thomas Brdaric (what a very German name lol :D )