Are international players playing for their country?

[Begbie]

Marcel Desailly cheering on Ghana and (when England were still in) Mark Lawrenson cheering on England annoys me. They both played under a flag of convenience and both have more allegiance to their countries of birth than to the countries that they played for.

Money and fame over heart?

[goodison]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Begbie

Marcel Desailly cheering on Ghana and (when England were still in) Mark Lawrenson cheering on England annoys me. They both played under a flag of convenience and both have more allegiance to their countries of birth than to the countries that they played for.

Money and fame over heart?

Perhaps money and fame for Marcel ... but for Mark Lawrenson, he was never going to play for England and playing for Ireland in those days wasn't exactly the ultimate accolade

Everytime Mark Lawrenson is named I think of the bit in Mike Bassett: England Manager when they make fun of his dribbling skills

[accieturk]

the french do use their colonial ties well though when sourcing players
bit like big jack used irish grannys

now thats a free kick

[Begbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodison

Perhaps money and fame for Marcel ... but for Mark Lawrenson, he was never going to play for England and playing for Ireland in those days wasn't exactly the ultimate accolade

Everytime Mark Lawrenson is named I think of the bit in Mike Bassett: England Manager when they make fun of his dribbling skills

Agreed. Playing for the Rep. of Ireland was Lawrenson's only chance of playing at the highest level.

I think that people should be only be able to play for the country of their birth. I know that would have ruled a lot of players out from playing for the countries that they played for (eg. Terry Butcher and Richard Gough in the UK) but the fact remains, International football is getting closer to club football when players can switch teams.

eg. Kevin-Prince Boateng playing for Germany U-21s then switching to Ghana a couple of months ago. His brother still plays for Germany. It's just wrong to most people's idea of national identity (I think).

[accieturk]

i take your point Begbie but there will always be cases where country of birth only would be illogical

take say a British guy married to a swedish girl ,he is in army about to come out and she gives birth in say malaysia , they return to uk till kid is 10 then move to Sweden when kid reaches 21 he has become international class but can only play for a country he has no links with except for first 3 weeks of his life

place of birth and both parents nationality i think makes sense with perhaps country of residence if more than 10 of first 18 years spent there as a possiable addition
but hey im a mixed up moved about person so i would think like that

[Begbie]

Fair enough Accie, but you know what I'm saying. The rules are too loose at the minute. Wee teams are losing players that could push them up the FIFA rankings/seedings, maybe giving them more chance of qualifying for a big tournament.

[accieturk]

i do begs yes far too many players almost choosing a nation and then the federation finding a way for them too qualify

the fact becoming a nationalized resident has become easier in EEC countries can only make it more rather than less common in the future as well

given time wouldnt shock me if you could almost transfer national players
if its what tv and sponsors want it will happen

[bazzer]

by current rules I could play for any one of three team,s Scotland ,born and raised here, dad,s parent,s both from Northern Ireland ,mum,s parent,s both from Holland ,my choice would be Scotland as I was born and raised ,my opinion is that,s the way it should be ,dont believe you should get picked for any other because your granparent,s came from a different country,crazy rule

[Begbie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazzer

by current rules I could play for any one of three team,s Scotland ,born and raised here, dad,s parent,s both from Northern Ireland ,mum,s parent,s both from Holland ,my choice would be Scotland as I was born and raised ,my opinion is that,s the way it should be ,dont believe you should get picked for any other because your granparent,s came from a different country,crazy rule

vBookie will give you 1,000,000/1 that you won't play for any of them.

[accieturk]

problem is as long as players have a choice they will usually choose the better side , if it means a chance to play at major finals who wouldnt , and remeber a professional player is almost conditioned to having their loyalty controlled by others its the nature of their livelyhood after all to buy and sell people

ps can i h£1 on Bazzer never playing for any of them at 1m to 1 please



halfers bazz

[deadlywill]

Last world cup there were a couple of Brazilians playing for Japan weren't there? If you know you aren't going to get in the Brazil side then why not move

[wakka839]

I think there was one for poland aswell deadly.

Begbie: that then leaves the problem of if the national team dont like/rate the player. Zidane wanted to play for Algeria but they rejected him, so played for a country who appreciated his skills.