Manchester Sensation wanted by England...

[bides]

I say get lost England leave our talents alone!!!!

O A

[evalagoal]

Now let me ask you this my friend??? Do you blame him if he chooses to play for the Britts? Would you rateher play for the English National Team or the Greek?

I know that we're all true Greeks and our blood is full of feta & olives etc etc :tup: But in this case you need to look on what's BEST FOR YOU... If this was yours and my son I wouldn't think twice about it....

It's something that the parents of the player and the player themselves have to agree upon and go from there.....

My question is where's EPO in this??? Do they even want him to possibly pursue a carrer in Greece yet alone at the National Team level??

[mcinner]

A couple of points:

1. playing in the youth or even the U21s for a country these days does not preclude you from playing for another country unless for the proper national team in a FIFA approved tournament. the rules were changed from Jan 1, 2004

i. Up to his 21st birthday, a player may only once request changing the Association for which he is eligible to play international matches. A Player may exercise this right to change Associations only if he has not played at ?A? international level for his current Association and if, at the time of his first full or partial appearance in an international match in an official competition of any other category, he already had such nationalities. Changing Associations is not permitted during the preliminary competition of a FIFA competition, continental championship or Olympic Tournaments if a player has already been fielded in a match of one of these competitions.

ii. Any Player who has already acquired eligibility to play for one Association but has another nationality imposed upon him by a government authority, is also entitled to change associations. This provision is not subject to any age limits.

so the report saying the English want him so he cannot play for Cyprus or Greece is rubbish, providing he is already registered as a national.

2. Manchester City are obviously investing a lot in him, paying his school fees, training etc etc. It's a big investment not without risks. What if he doesnt progress further as a player, falls in with the wrong crowd (see another wonder boy Jermain Penant once of Arsenal now with Birmingham) or gets injured? Under the circumstances, City will have a say in where and when he plays as they want to protect their investment. This is a more likely point of refusal for them.

Im not saying it's right, but how many senior players feign injury to avoid playing for their national team in friendlies? Until about four years ago, Ryan Giggs had played no friendlies for Wales on the orders of Sir Alex Ferguson and the great Leeds team of the 70s (Bremner and Charlton aside) won ten caps each as Don Revie would always withdraw them. Today it's even worse. The big money clubs rule the roost and there's nothing national associations can do any more. The national teams just aren't considered important other than from a level of prestige.

3. Epo has a hard enough time trying to run Greek Football as it is. ;) Can we seriously expect them to be so forward thinking as to care about the fate of one young hopeful?