What do you make of players changing international teams?
The rules state it is now possible for a player to change national team even if they have played competitively at senior level, provided:
- the player held the nationality of their new association at the time of their first official appearance for their first national team.
- the player played in no more than three competitive senior games before the age of 21.
- the player has not played in the final stage of an official tournament such as the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America etc.
- at least three years have passed since the player’s last senior appearance for their previous national team.
Do you think this is right that a player can play for more than one national team or does it devalue the national jersey? Recent players that come to mind are the likes of Declan Rice (potentially the most controversial), Wilfred Zaha and Franco Vázquez among others.
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It’s all fun and games until Saudi finds a way to buy all the good players and make a decent “national” squad.
What bugs me the most is the case of a country that declares independence and players from there can’t play. I think that happened to the Swiss-Kosovar players?
I think it’s a win/win situation for are parties involved. Brahim Diaz is recent example. He was very hyped as a youngster, but now he is 24 and I doubt he’s ever becoming a Spanish NT regular. Switching to Morocco will allow him to play in the NT and also strengthen Morocco’s team.
Other examples are Gouiri and Aouar. These players aren’t good enough to get called up between France’s superstars, but they’ll be very useful for Algeria. I think many other French players with dual nationality will follow soon.
To me it shouldn’t be possible. Representing your nation doesn’t mean ANYTHING anymore. Nationa football is just another club football now.