I feel sorry for the 17 true Algerians who missed out on playing at the World Cup due to their places being taken from them by 17 Frenchmen.
Bit odd not sure I believe there has been no contact at all tbh. But good that he is giving the u21's a chance.
Imagine signing up to a load of long haul travelling to play in the bog standard concacaf region. 10 hour flight to Jamaica , potential long flights to the other venues and then back again . None of those players who Jamaica want are any loss to us.
Agree. Even if Brentford don't get promoted suspect he'll be in the Premier League next season and I could see him doing what Bamford or Watkins have done this campaign. If he isn't capable of that level then I don't think many would begrudge him helping Jamaica instead. Fulham have a lot of these guys. Ola Aina and Josh Maja are Londoners who have already represented Nigeria. Onomah could join them. 1368576832849801219 is not a valid tweet id Also at the club; Antonee Robinson, Tom Cairney, Michael Hector & Bobby Reid were born & raised in England but chose to represent the nation their parent was from. Right back depth is strong and Max Aarons is in the wrong division so more likely he remains with U21 side.
Thats a bit out of order. Still means they get to play in a world cup whether they play for timbuktu or a brazil
Its the arrogance of the Nigerians that bugs me. Who's to say for example lookman wants to play for Nigeria.
yeah they have accused England of stealing players that were born and raised here from them. Some on a forum I lurk on complain that Iheanacho doesn't start over Vardy for Leicester
The notion that civic identity trumps ethnic identity is a very Western concept, probably developed more for economic reasons than anything else. We shouldn't demand that the rest of the world be judged by our narrow principles, although I suppose that is what FIFA does too.
I do not know about Matt Ritchie. I do know about Riyad Mahrez, Yacine Brahimi, and R'ais M'Bolhi, among others, and they are true Algerians. You do not need to be born and raised in a place to be of that place, especially when that is where your heritage is rooted. History and affinity matter when it comes to who is "true" to one nation or not. Some people never feel strongly about their ancestral heritage, and care more about where they were born and raised. Good for them. For others, that heritage is central to how they were born and raised. These things don't get erased by a single decision to migrate and start a family somewhere else one or two generations ago. You don't get to completely dismiss fundamental components of who people are just like that. Doing so is not just wrong, it's disrespectful to these people, their experience, and their families. I get that many on here are not happy with some of the efforts of the Welsh, irish and Scottish FAs, seeming more mercenary and calculating than others, and some players involved in that effort feeling perhaps less committed to these nations than others, but to try and apply that experience broadly to other nationals and just dismiss identities the globe over is a bridge too far. Just because Matt Ritchie hadn't even been to Scotland prior to starting his international career and seemed like a disconnected mercenary to you doesn't imply that every Algerian born outside of Algeria must by necessity fail the "true Algerian" test.
I think you've taken what we're saying out of context. I agree there are people out there who identify with their ancestry more then their birthplace. But there are just as many, if not more people who end up choosing another country because they know they don't have a chance playing for their country of birth. It's one thing choosing Jamaica at 28/29 but if they turn around and say they've always felt Jamaican and always wanted to play for Jamaica, then that's just insulting people's intelligence and the people of Jamaica. I'm not saying they've even said that, but it used to happen alot with the Irish players during the Charlton era when they said they always felt Irish but took until they were 28 to declare.
It isn't necessarily so, not if we're realistic. It is one thing to have feelings about a country. It is another to also be a high-level professional footballer, which in itself amounts to being a walking, breathing multi-million dollar enterprise. Football is a business and feelings can't determine all business decisions. I know there are guys who never played for Jamaica that feel as Jamaican as they do English, and guys who don't even feel French who have played for France. Why? Football is a business. You have to balance your feelings with that desire to build generational wealth over a very short time span. I think this should be noted here, because many fans of football tend to forget this: England is a football superpower. Despite all of the jokes made at the expense of the Three Lions and lack of recent titles, England remains one of the 10 most historically and economically significant sides on Earth, and on the pitch it is also in the elite tier and capable of playing with any nation. Jamaica, while punching above its weight and playing at a level above the global median for national sides is...none of those things. Becoming an England international has massive economic and social implications that just do not come with representing Jamaica. This can't be ignored in evaluating any player's choice. At the end of the day, you can feel as Jamaican as you want, but if you commit to Jamaica you are also embracing significant costs in travel time, possible club consequences due to extensive international break absences, additional injury risk, and dealing with a less professional and rather annoying FA. If all things are equal and you can play for England absent those risks, AND it just so happens that you also feel very English and feel as strongly for England as you do for Jamaica, it's not hard to see where the decision making process naturally goes. And if you're a player who has an affinity for both England and Jamaica for whom England is not yet an option but MIGHT be in the future, it's not hard to see why one might hold out. Maybe you do want to play for Jamaica, the idea is genuinely appealing to you, but England is appealing too and you cannot ignore the advantages and just close the door that quickly on them. I don't question, for example, Ivan Toney's feelings about Jamaica at all. It's a huge decision for him. If it doesn't work out for him and we are here in 2025 talking about him committing to Jamaica, feeling Jamaican, having wanted to play for Jamaica before, etc, I wouldn't dismiss those claims out of hand. Yes, it's possible he is full of it and just saying what he thinks folks want to hear, but it's just as likely that he saw holding out and waiting as exactly what it was: a rational business decision in a cutthroat business of football. And I get this. The experience England fans have with their nearby FAs has probably coloured a lot of perspectives on this topic in a more negative light, and led to a greater tendency to presume mercenary behavior in a larger proportion of cases. I'm simply saying that this doesn't necessarily apply in all other cases.
Declan rice was a big example said he was Irish. Commited etc. But in reality he's always felt English as the opportunity came around to play for England. When nations complain about being double crossed over a players allegiance, I always say its better to pick players born in that country rather than of bloodlines. Im sure Jamaica will have players that are committed. Just don't expect any players of note to commit to u right now as it will end up in disappointment. The likes of Antonio and Redmond are real coos for Jamaica
Low is to step down after the euros. Musiala capties himself before the euros what if whoever comes in doesn't fancy him. Hes dumped into the under 21s. If I was Musiala I would have a re-think
.@NGSuperEagles list of invited players for #Afcon2021Q against #Benin and #Lesotho.#BENNGA#NGALES #SoarSuperEagles #Team9jaStrong pic.twitter.com/BrDEvWAreA— The NFF 🇳🇬 (@thenff) March 9, 2021 Michael Olise on the standby list for Nigeria.
Thought Nigeria were calling up several English born players up, a load of rubbish again from their tabloids, don’t see Olise switching to Nigerian tbh. Yes , if I was Jamal Muisala , I wouldn’t be switching so fast, think he should wait a little while longer.