A handful of words
Hey, all. Because someone is dragging her feet, this community kicks off with a post that's all srs biznes rather than a write-up of a transfer saga. :D Or a link to that article about footballers and their hobbies
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I know, I know. Argies aren't excessively slashed, but sometimes they are, and then they might be slashed with a Brazillian and in the fic there appears to be absolutely no problems whatsoever with what should be a situation fraught with 'I hate your country so much and joga bonito my ass'.
The article on the French players is something that gets brought up often, not just in that context, but the context of players really reaching back in their heritage, sometimes grasping at straws, to play for another country and whether that's permissible. Some kid who just joined Arsenal this year was looking for English citizenship, I think, because he wanted to play for a national team and it didn't look like the Spanish side was biting.
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Would you happen to remember the name of the Arsenal player? I vaguely recall a non-English player saying last year that he only needed to wait another five years before applying for citizenship and thus having the choice to play for England, but I don't think he's very young.
'I hate your country so much and joga bonito my ass'
*dies* There should be more of this in fic, I think -- but not as swipes against a player the writer dislikes!
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"I am not as Spanish as many people, or very English - I do not care. I just want to play football at the top level.
"If I cannot play for Spain, I can find the way to play for any other country."
That bothers me, I'm not going to lie. While I understand on one hand, the desire to play at the national level, if it's not for your country, a place you've developed a deep affection for, a place that you're going to fight and die for - what's the point? Old fashioned POV, but yeah. Though if there are times where it's a valid point of contention like with Hargreaves or someone who was born in one country but raised all of his life in another.
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There are people like Chris Birchall who in all likelihood, will never have represented his home country. Playing for another country (no matter how remote the connection) presents them with their only chance for international football.
Having said that, I'm not condoning Almunia's POV - far from it, because he sounds downright mercenary and something there rankles deep within me. I know that what he is saying must not, cannot ever be considered right. It is an honour to represent your country and your loyalty shouldn't be sold so cheaply for personal gain.
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Right now, who is it? Gonzalo Higuain was born in France while his father played there and has an EU passport, but moved back to Argentina when he was 10 months old. He has rejected call ups for both Argentine and French U-20s and everyone's wondering which side he'll pick. In this case, I have no idea, because he was born in one place, but he can't speak French and he's lived in Argentina all his life, so whatever choice he makes would seem kind of legitimate, I guess. I have to wonder what goes through their minds when players are faced with these kind of choices.
Okay, that was rather long, but I love talking about stuff like this, hehe.
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Well, that's (partly) what this community is about, so yay for lengthy discussions. :D I don't know much about Argentinian football, so I hope I'll get to see some posts from you on the topic.
I have to wonder what goes through their minds when players are faced with these kind of choices.
I wouldn't like to be in their shoes. I suppose it's easier when you feel a closer bond to one country than the other, but even making a decision to wear the colours of that country can't always smooth away all the ambiguities (e.g. Lukas Podolski not wanting to sing the German national anthem).
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