EDU has stated that he wants to play for England! Obviously this would require him to take British citizenship which he is not now far short off from doing, as he would need to be here 5 years for consideration. What concerns me is; "Does he not have enough faith in his own ability to think that he can't break into the Brazilian national squad?" I know that he has "only begun to bear fruit" this season, but is there REALLY that much competition in the Brazilian midfield that he can't get into the side. Who would he have to oust? "Gilberto"!!! I think I have made my case! It takes a lot (in my book) to give up your nationality (or to change, or have two) for the sake of a couple of years of international football. That's provided he would be picked for England. Although, the left side of midfield is somewhat weak. Beckham on the other flank. Maybe we could win the next World Cup!!! (LOL).
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=296335&cc=5901 That is from soccernet today. Basically, it tells of what Edu wants to do, and that he will need to get a passport before he can be considered to suit up for England.
This may be posturing so that he can get a call up to the Brazilian NT sooner rather than later. Here's a good thread on the "Edu for NT duty" situation: https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2236064#post2236064 Since those guys follwo Brazil, I have to take their word that Edu is a longshot for Brazilian duty. [size=-2]”We may be undefeated in the league, but we just can’t beat Manchester United” – Coach McGuirk[/size]
Ive seen the statement on SKY Sports News saying he would consider it..........but to be honest Ive also seen many news items and quotes about how he would love to get called up by Brazil. Agreed he is better than Gilberto, but they are also a different type of player, Edu is more of a forward central midfielder and unfortunatly he isnt going to replace Emerson in the national team. Would be nice to see another Arsenal player get international caps, but then doesn't that make a farce of 'representing your country'? Though it might encourage half the Spurs team to bugger off to the Faero Islands never to be seen again...............
You have to consider the cases of Ailton and Elber here both of whom are/were prolific forwards in the Bundesliga yet Ailton has never been capped by Brazil and Elber was only a fringe player. Yes, both of them are forwards and Brazil always seem to be loaded with with attacking players which may make the case for EDU a bit different. Nonetheless, I'm not surprised he's entertaining the possibility given that only Brazilians playing in Brazil, Spain, or Italy seem to be considered for NT duty.
Edu's been great for us, but the man hasn't had regular 1st team football since he stepped foot in England. You can't just walk into the Brazil squad simply because you've managed to string together some good performances. Until Edu manages to get regular 1st team football over at least an entire season he won't be even sniffing the Brazil squad. The starters in their team are established both at an international level as well as a club level.
i would disagree with you on that. i say if you have somebody on a good run of form, call them up and see how they do on the national team. at least to take advantage of their good form. my feelings are that i would like to see edu on england. i despise brazil second only to manure, and while i'm not an england fan i would like to see him play for them. it would give me somebody to cheer for other than ash, campbell and beattie (hey i like the way he plays, but he isn't even called up anymore). the way i think he is thinking is if he can't play for the country he was born in, why not play in his adopted country. both are in the major tournaments and the english game fits his style better, so why not give it a chance
why not throw hargreaves on the left? put your best 4 midfielders out there (scholes, hargreaves, becks, gerrard) well, maybe lampard in for one of these... oh the dilemma.. lol
Why would Brazil call him up? World Cup Champions, undeafeated in World Cup qualifying--the team is neither struggling nor are they lacking midfield options. Edu's only played 62 games in 4 years. I'm not saying that Edu shouldn't ever be called up, but he's hardly proved himself to be a consistent performer at the highest level.
Edu was called up for Brazil today as part of a squad that will face Hungary on the 28th. If he were to play he would not yet be cap-tied.