Parky

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. But that's what Germany has done mate!!The scouting of young Brazilians/whoever by foreign scouts is surely what will happen next if it hasn't already.Some countries are traditionally unscrupulous in their pilgrimage to win at all costs. The only player that shouldn't be able to play for Germany in their WC squad is Cacau. Not what the Poles think though is it? The Poles have, and should have, no say in demanding someone who's almost never lived in their country to play for them. So if Germany hoover up all Polish teenagers showing promise you'd be fine with that? But they haven't hoovered up their current Polish players, the players parents moved to Germany and their kids grew up as German Poles. The kids chose to play for Germany. I'm not ignoring what you're getting at, but I think its cynicism at the highest level, and such actions would be quickly stamped out by either FIFA or any real Citizenship test. You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. But that's what Germany has done mate!!The scouting of young Brazilians/whoever by foreign scouts is surely what will happen next if it hasn't already.Some countries are traditionally unscrupulous in their pilgrimage to win at all costs. The only player that shouldn't be able to play for Germany in their WC squad is Cacau. Not what the Poles think though is it? The Poles have, and should have, no say in demanding someone who's almost never lived in their country to play for them. So if Germany hoover up all Polish teenagers showing promise you'd be fine with that? But they haven't hoovered up their current Polish players, the players parents moved to Germany and their kids grew up as German Poles. The kids chose to play for Germany. I'm not ignoring what you're getting at, but I think its cynicism at the highest level, and such actions would be quickly stamped out by either FIFA or any real Citizenship test. Klose's dad played for Poland.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. But that's what Germany has done mate!!The scouting of young Brazilians/whoever by foreign scouts is surely what will happen next if it hasn't already.Some countries are traditionally unscrupulous in their pilgrimage to win at all costs. The only player that shouldn't be able to play for Germany in their WC squad is Cacau. Imagine Germany vs Norway in the WC final.Cacau,as he did yesterday,makes a preposterous dive in the box.The ref buys it,gives the penalty,Cacau gets up and scores the pen,and wins the Cup for his adopted nation.You'd be really happy wouldn't you? I'd be sad Norway lost, but I'd not give a shit if it was Cacau that scored. Unreal.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. Parky is advocating a complete blanket ban on anything but pure blooded footballers representing their nation. Nothing to do with pure blood or race where you're born is it. English black players play for Eng cause they're born in England not cause they have Caucasian blood. Really quite concerned the amount of insinuations you've managed to level at this thread notwithstand that fifa are worried about it...I supposee fifa, Beckanbauer and half the German nation are talking shit and you living in some skiing village know what's what. Mind boggling. Random insults without trying to back up your point properly is just annoying, you really don't know how to debate something, do you? You're like the NE5 of politics. And it's not the first time the German nation have been talking shit. I've quoted 5 articles backing my point and also the concerns fifa have, but mountain boy who doesn't live in the same country as the person he's agruing wiht knows best. You should work on it, stand up isn't far off.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. But that's what Germany has done mate!!The scouting of young Brazilians/whoever by foreign scouts is surely what will happen next if it hasn't already.Some countries are traditionally unscrupulous in their pilgrimage to win at all costs. The only player that shouldn't be able to play for Germany in their WC squad is Cacau. Not what the Poles think though is it? The Poles have, and should have, no say in demanding someone who's almost never lived in their country to play for them. So if Germany hoover up all Polish teenagers showing promise you'd be fine with that?

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. Parky is advocating a complete blanket ban on anything but pure blooded footballers representing their nation. Nothing to do with pure blood or race where you're born is it. English black players play for Eng cause they're born in England not cause they have Caucasian blood. Really quite concerned the amount of insinuations you've managed to level at this thread notwithstand that fifa are worried about it...I supposee fifa, Beckanbauer and half the German nation are talking shit and you living in some skiing village know what's what. Mind boggling.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm not advocating that at all, man. Have you even read my posts? I'm against nautralising players as adults, just not against letting people who've lived their whole life in a country play for that country because they were born somewhere else. But that's what Germany has done mate!!The scouting of young Brazilians/whoever by foreign scouts is surely what will happen next if it hasn't already.Some countries are traditionally unscrupulous in their pilgrimage to win at all costs. The only player that shouldn't be able to play for Germany in their WC squad is Cacau. Not what the Poles think though is it?

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. I've stated already if you are born in a country or have parents/grandparents that were,then you should be allowed to play for them. You'll be advocating a transfer market for international football next.It's like England sending scouts to Brazil to watch say U-12 footballers,offering the best players' parents fortunes and nice houses in England, to play for England when they are 20 or so.It isn't right man. I'm astounded that people can't see that unless something is done, richer countries will hoover up young talent. Germany are also in a massively advantagous postion situated as they are in the middle of Europe with a huge multi-german ethnic German diaspora - extended families of Croatians, Serbs, Hungarians, czechs right through to Latvians and now some Russians. Are people really that naive to think that Germany hasn't started to take advantage of that.

Thank you.

You only partly agree with the view he's been putting across, though. Which incidentially also is the part the rest of us also agree with. Works the other way as well. When Germany and Turkey face off on Wednesday, June 25 there will be plenty of German spoken by both sides. The Turkish roster is filled with players from immigrant families who were not only born in Germany but made a name for themselves playing for their adopted country's clubs. So there is a certain amount of consternation that none of the talented German-Turkish players chose to play for Germany. "For most players of Turkish origin, decisions are taken based on family influences," former Germany player Matthias Sammer, now the sporting director of the German federation, told "DPA news agency." Top Turkish players Hamit Altintop and Hakan Balta are perfect examples. Both were born and played soccer for Gelsenkirchen and Berlin, respectively. There are many others like them, including Uemuez Davala, Yldiray Bastuerk, Altintop's brother, Halil, and Nuri Sahin, the youngster whom Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has called one of the greatest talents in European football. They all chose the Ottoman crescent moon over the Prussian eagle. I know you live on a mountain top in Norway somewhere K but this is quite a hot debate in Germany about the makeup of the national team and also the problems as hightlighted by Beckenbauer of foreign born nationalts not singing the anthem. There was quite the backlash here in Germany about that.

Got to be one of the luckiest goals ever. Good to see Van Bronckhorst still playing for the national side.

With direct faceless quotes like that you could work for any of the leading newspapers in the Country! Of course which Country is entirely up to you... Do you reckon I made it up?

News just in. Data shows a growing number of talented young players from around Europe choosing to go and live in funky Amsterdam and play for Holland. A spokesman said, "We don't care about countries and shit, we want to play wherever the fuck we want"...

Amauri, the latest case Having completed the process of naturalization, Amauri could be called by coach Marcello Lippi to represent Italy’s 23 man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Lippi has left the possibility in the air, after throwing praises about the Juventus player who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

All qualify to play for a country other than Germany. 1) Dennis Aogo 2) Jerome Boateng 3) Serdar Tasci 4) Sami Khedira 5) Marko Marin 6) Mesut Özil 7) Piotr Trochowski 8) Cacao 9) Mario Gomez 10) Miroslav Klose 11) Lukas Podolski

In 2006, the then-head coach of the Mexican national team, Ricardo La Volpe, an Argentine, caused controversy by picking Argentine-born and raised, Guillermo Franco and another foreign-born player, Brazillian, Antonio Naelson, better known as "Sinha" ahead of Cuauhtemoc Blanco, considered by many to be one of the greatest Mexican players of all time. When Sven Goran-Eriksson called up four foreign-born players, including the two mentioned above, to his Mexico squad three years later, goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa spoke out: "It's a very delicate situation, there are a lot of Mexicans waiting for a chance in the national team and this makes it more and more difficult for them," he is quoted as saying on the Daily Mail website. "It's obvious that the Mexican player should have better opportunities, so I think the matter of the naturalised players needs more analysis. I don't think I'd like to see 11 naturalised players in the national team." ConclusionThere is no denying the benefits of playing international football. The obvious financial gain, as well as getting the chance to play in major tournaments, which can subsequently lead to more exposure, are strong incentives. There is no doubt that a naturally-gifted Brazillian-born player will also greatly improve the standard of an average team and influence the playing style of those around him. Many believe, however, that living in a country for just five years (in line with FIFA's new "five-year rule") does not make a player worthy of inclusion in a team with which he has no previous connections, family or otherwise. Whatever your opinion on this controversial topic may be, it appears that Sepp Blatter's concerns may be well-founded. Read more at Suite101: Naturalised Footballers: A Growing Trend Around The World http://internationalsoccer.suite101.com/article.cfm/naturalised-footballers#ixzz0qpQcStf2

Sepp Blatter Thinks Too Many Brazilians are Playing for Other Countries By: Laurie | May 16th, 2008 sepp.jpgIt’s not just foreign players in clubs that worry FIFA President Sepp Blatter. It’s also the foreign players in national teams. His biggest concern? Those pesky Brazilians. Blatter is alarmed by the number of Brazilians who have become eligible to play for a different country after living there as little as two years. “I am not a prophet, but I would say we could have half the players in the 2014 World Cup (in Brazil) could come from Brazil,” he said Wednesday. “That is why we have to introduce a hurdle which is higher.” FIFA will ask its 208 member federations to introduce a five-year residency rule at a May 29-30 meeting in Sydney, Australia. Prior to 2004, FIFA rules said that any player could play for any country provided he had never played for another country and was granted citizenship in the new country. This rule was changed in 2004 after Togo naturalized five Brazilians to play in the African Cup of Nations, and three Brazilians became naturalized citizens of Qatar to play on the Qatari team. The new rule said that players must have a “clear connection to that country” if they wished to play for a team outside of the country they were born in. From a 2004 article: The rules now state a player must either have lived in a country for at least two years, or have a parent or grandparent who was born there. And now Blatter’s position is that even this is too liberal. As much as we like to dismiss anything Sepp Blatter says out of hand, this one has some merit. This isn’t like club play, which, like it or not, has become about fielding the best team you can buy. This is about international play, which, pretty much by definition is about fielding the best players from a given nation. This whole issue of importing players for national team play does bring up some interesting questions, though. Most of these players do come from Brazil, which is essentially an international football factory. The country puts out far more international-level players than can ever play on its own team. Do these players deserve to play at the highest level? Should they be punished because of the country they were born in? But if they are naturalized so that they can play for other countries, what about the players who were actually born in these countries who will be displaced by them? Do they deserve to play for their home countries ahead of imported players? And what about the import of non-Brazilian players, particularly those from developing nations without the strong Brazilian football culture? As an example, Singapore has fielded players from Croatia, Serbia and Nigeria, among others. Should these countries be denied the skills of their native-born players just because those players have been offered a better deal elsewhere? Or is importing talent a good compromise for smaller nations that will never have the population or training infrascructure to home-grow their own players? Does restricting imports penalize small countries? The five-year or family connection rule seems like an interesting compromise. Five years is a long time in a footballing career. Expanding the wait period by this much would discourage players from moving to a new country solely to try to play for a different national team, but it wouldn’t have a huge effect on players who move to a country in their younger years and truly do consider themselves citizens.

Parky I'm sorry, but you can say that about any National Team, though unsurprisingly the African Nations belt out their National Anthems. England team only 2 players mutter the words. It goes against all this 'they identify with the country they live in' bollocks. The clearly don't. 3 of the players Gomez, the turk and one other have 2 passports ffs!!!

That poll question is so fair.

BERLIN—Germany's national soccer team has run into a dust-up over the refusal of some of its players to sing the country's national anthem—as if losing its captain to injury weeks before the World Cup wasn't bad enough. In recent warm-up games before the 2010 World Cup begins in South Africa next week, only a handful of Germany's ethnically diverse starting lineup have been singing, or at least lip-synching, as the national hymn, "The Song of the Germans"—a truncated version of the original that began "Deutsch land, Deutschland über alles"—plays before kickoff. Journal Community The lack of moving lips might have gone unnoticed by most Germans, who since World War II have remained largely dispassionate, and even shy, about most overtly patriotic gestures. That is, until German and World Cup soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer, otherwise affectionately known as "Der Kaiser"—"the emperor"—weighed in earlier this week with rousing disapproval. "All of them should sing the anthem," said Mr. Beckenbauer, 64 years old, who won World Cups as both a player and coach, during a videotaped call-in session Monday organized by the German tabloid Bild-Zeitung. "It can't be that the fans in the stands or watching at home sing along but those on the field don't." 11 of the current squad qualify for another nation and 3 have dual passports. If Germany the richest country in Europe starts hoovering up all the upcoming European talent (with all the new freedom of movement in Europe) how does that leave Poland, Czech, Hungary and the rest? IMO 5 years naturalisation isn't enough to protect the smaller Euro nations and fifa need to look again at the rules. Or in 10 years time when you play Germany you'll be up against a European 11 and it will be legal. Not in the spirit of the game as far as I'm concerned.

Agreed.

I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. Btw I'm only 3 nations! As for representing another country, every situation is different. You have Ozil tonight for example, born in Germany to Turkish parents, and he represents Germany. Now by contrast you have Podolski and Klose who are Polish but raised in Germany from very young ages. Now some families that emigrate retain their culture, by only speaking their mother tongue at home for example. Now if you live in Germany but spend all your free time speaking Turkish or Polish then you may still feel a strong connection to that part of your heritage, so the idea of representing them is not entirely alien, when you consider that one of those parents may want you to represent their birth country, it's not quite as bad as is made out. You then have people who move to a country later in life and become bonded to that country, like Liedson, Deco, or Pepe of Portugal, if you qualify as a citizen of a country you can't really stop them representing that country, as they may feel a connection towards it. The problem you have is being sure of the validity of their claim, the best examples of that are Guerrero of Poland and some of the middle eastern nations with Brazilians in their side, it's sad that players will cheapen themselves by clinging to any nationality just to experience a major tournament, but to claim that a player is incapable of gaining a bond with a nation outside of the one in which they were born is slightly naive. Compliment, probably. I think you nailed it when you said every situation is different, which is what I said on an earlier page as to their being a large grey area for the most part. The differences in the situations means that trying to pin it down to certain rulings will be unfair on alot of people. For example ruling it on birthplace is plain wrong imo because for the likes of Klose, Podolski and even Terry Butcher for England (although that's slightly different due to few cultural/family ties to a place like Singapore) they will more than likely have no connection to the country they were born in. But then pinning it down to purely citizenship reasons opens up doors to all these Brazilians latching on to any team they can after merely living in the country a couple of years. There's also alot of losers when it comes to people going with their heritage rather than their place of birth/home - it works both ways. For example the likes of Australia, USA and Switzerland have been repeatedly screwed over by players who live their lives in the countries who welcomed them (or their parents) with open arms, educated them, gave them job oppurtunities and allowed them to become the players they are through facilities and coaching - only for them players to then ditch that country at the last moment when the manager of their 'blood' nation rings them up asking if they want a game. The Serbs/Croats/.. are often the biggest culprits when it comes to this, which while you may think is down to strong allegiances to their 'bloodline' is more than likely purely so they can have a better chance of achieving. That's why players from Albania (Behrami) who have a poorer national team will often go for the better option in their host country and players from Serbia/Croatia (Kuzmanovic, Rakitic) who have better teams will choose their heritage. It's sad in this case when it comes down to furthering careers rather than making a real emotional decision. It's definitely a very touchy subject though, and will only become moreso with the loosening of borders. Good post. The thing about the fluid borders and all the extended families of Polish/Czech and other European origin is that it really will get to the point that if they really researched it the Germans could be picking a team from the whole of Europe. That is really what I'm trying to get at.... You're really shit at getting your point across if that's what you've been trying to get at. Podolski: German striker Lukas Podolski won't be singing the national anthem on Wednesday before the much-awaited game against Poland. "It's a very special situation and quite a strange feeling when the Polish national anthem and then the German one rings out," Podolski said this week. It isn't as simple as you're trying to make out K. So? He lived a few years in Poland, and his parents are Polish. It's out of respect, doesn't necessarily make him feel any less German. Do you know Podolski personally? Why do you just want to jump to the worst possible conclusion? He didn't celebrate scoring against them either. Personally I would want a player singing the national anthem of the team he is playing for. That rules out pretty much all of the England squad, tbh. Willing to then. ha ha

I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. Btw I'm only 3 nations! As for representing another country, every situation is different. You have Ozil tonight for example, born in Germany to Turkish parents, and he represents Germany. Now by contrast you have Podolski and Klose who are Polish but raised in Germany from very young ages. Now some families that emigrate retain their culture, by only speaking their mother tongue at home for example. Now if you live in Germany but spend all your free time speaking Turkish or Polish then you may still feel a strong connection to that part of your heritage, so the idea of representing them is not entirely alien, when you consider that one of those parents may want you to represent their birth country, it's not quite as bad as is made out. You then have people who move to a country later in life and become bonded to that country, like Liedson, Deco, or Pepe of Portugal, if you qualify as a citizen of a country you can't really stop them representing that country, as they may feel a connection towards it. The problem you have is being sure of the validity of their claim, the best examples of that are Guerrero of Poland and some of the middle eastern nations with Brazilians in their side, it's sad that players will cheapen themselves by clinging to any nationality just to experience a major tournament, but to claim that a player is incapable of gaining a bond with a nation outside of the one in which they were born is slightly naive. Compliment, probably. I think you nailed it when you said every situation is different, which is what I said on an earlier page as to their being a large grey area for the most part. The differences in the situations means that trying to pin it down to certain rulings will be unfair on alot of people. For example ruling it on birthplace is plain wrong imo because for the likes of Klose, Podolski and even Terry Butcher for England (although that's slightly different due to few cultural/family ties to a place like Singapore) they will more than likely have no connection to the country they were born in. But then pinning it down to purely citizenship reasons opens up doors to all these Brazilians latching on to any team they can after merely living in the country a couple of years. There's also alot of losers when it comes to people going with their heritage rather than their place of birth/home - it works both ways. For example the likes of Australia, USA and Switzerland have been repeatedly screwed over by players who live their lives in the countries who welcomed them (or their parents) with open arms, educated them, gave them job oppurtunities and allowed them to become the players they are through facilities and coaching - only for them players to then ditch that country at the last moment when the manager of their 'blood' nation rings them up asking if they want a game. The Serbs/Croats/.. are often the biggest culprits when it comes to this, which while you may think is down to strong allegiances to their 'bloodline' is more than likely purely so they can have a better chance of achieving. That's why players from Albania (Behrami) who have a poorer national team will often go for the better option in their host country and players from Serbia/Croatia (Kuzmanovic, Rakitic) who have better teams will choose their heritage. It's sad in this case when it comes down to furthering careers rather than making a real emotional decision. It's definitely a very touchy subject though, and will only become moreso with the loosening of borders. Good post. The thing about the fluid borders and all the extended families of Polish/Czech and other European origin is that it really will get to the point that if they really researched it the Germans could be picking a team from the whole of Europe. That is really what I'm trying to get at.... You're really shit at getting your point across if that's what you've been trying to get at. Podolski: German striker Lukas Podolski won't be singing the national anthem on Wednesday before the much-awaited game against Poland. "It's a very special situation and quite a strange feeling when the Polish national anthem and then the German one rings out," Podolski said this week. It isn't as simple as you're trying to make out K. So? He lived a few years in Poland, and his parents are Polish. It's out of respect, doesn't necessarily make him feel any less German. Do you know Podolski personally? Why do you just want to jump to the worst possible conclusion? He didn't celebrate scoring against them either. Personally I would want a player singing the national anthem of the team he is playing for.

I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. Btw I'm only 3 nations! As for representing another country, every situation is different. You have Ozil tonight for example, born in Germany to Turkish parents, and he represents Germany. Now by contrast you have Podolski and Klose who are Polish but raised in Germany from very young ages. Now some families that emigrate retain their culture, by only speaking their mother tongue at home for example. Now if you live in Germany but spend all your free time speaking Turkish or Polish then you may still feel a strong connection to that part of your heritage, so the idea of representing them is not entirely alien, when you consider that one of those parents may want you to represent their birth country, it's not quite as bad as is made out. You then have people who move to a country later in life and become bonded to that country, like Liedson, Deco, or Pepe of Portugal, if you qualify as a citizen of a country you can't really stop them representing that country, as they may feel a connection towards it. The problem you have is being sure of the validity of their claim, the best examples of that are Guerrero of Poland and some of the middle eastern nations with Brazilians in their side, it's sad that players will cheapen themselves by clinging to any nationality just to experience a major tournament, but to claim that a player is incapable of gaining a bond with a nation outside of the one in which they were born is slightly naive. Compliment, probably. I think you nailed it when you said every situation is different, which is what I said on an earlier page as to their being a large grey area for the most part. The differences in the situations means that trying to pin it down to certain rulings will be unfair on alot of people. For example ruling it on birthplace is plain wrong imo because for the likes of Klose, Podolski and even Terry Butcher for England (although that's slightly different due to few cultural/family ties to a place like Singapore) they will more than likely have no connection to the country they were born in. But then pinning it down to purely citizenship reasons opens up doors to all these Brazilians latching on to any team they can after merely living in the country a couple of years. There's also alot of losers when it comes to people going with their heritage rather than their place of birth/home - it works both ways. For example the likes of Australia, USA and Switzerland have been repeatedly screwed over by players who live their lives in the countries who welcomed them (or their parents) with open arms, educated them, gave them job oppurtunities and allowed them to become the players they are through facilities and coaching - only for them players to then ditch that country at the last moment when the manager of their 'blood' nation rings them up asking if they want a game. The Serbs/Croats/.. are often the biggest culprits when it comes to this, which while you may think is down to strong allegiances to their 'bloodline' is more than likely purely so they can have a better chance of achieving. That's why players from Albania (Behrami) who have a poorer national team will often go for the better option in their host country and players from Serbia/Croatia (Kuzmanovic, Rakitic) who have better teams will choose their heritage. It's sad in this case when it comes down to furthering careers rather than making a real emotional decision. It's definitely a very touchy subject though, and will only become moreso with the loosening of borders. Good post. The thing about the fluid borders and all the extended families of Polish/Czech and other European origin is that it really will get to the point that if they really researched it the Germans could be picking a team from the whole of Europe. That is really what I'm trying to get at.... You're really shit at getting your point across if that's what you've been trying to get at. Podolski: German striker Lukas Podolski won't be singing the national anthem on Wednesday before the much-awaited game against Poland. "It's a very special situation and quite a strange feeling when the Polish national anthem and then the German one rings out," Podolski said this week. It isn't as simple as you're trying to make out K. Germany is a special case due to its positon at the center of Europe and the fluid borders - it has the chance to recruit from all over Europe if it really wanted to and nothing in the current laws of the game can stop that.

I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult. Btw I'm only 3 nations! As for representing another country, every situation is different. You have Ozil tonight for example, born in Germany to Turkish parents, and he represents Germany. Now by contrast you have Podolski and Klose who are Polish but raised in Germany from very young ages. Now some families that emigrate retain their culture, by only speaking their mother tongue at home for example. Now if you live in Germany but spend all your free time speaking Turkish or Polish then you may still feel a strong connection to that part of your heritage, so the idea of representing them is not entirely alien, when you consider that one of those parents may want you to represent their birth country, it's not quite as bad as is made out. You then have people who move to a country later in life and become bonded to that country, like Liedson, Deco, or Pepe of Portugal, if you qualify as a citizen of a country you can't really stop them representing that country, as they may feel a connection towards it. The problem you have is being sure of the validity of their claim, the best examples of that are Guerrero of Poland and some of the middle eastern nations with Brazilians in their side, it's sad that players will cheapen themselves by clinging to any nationality just to experience a major tournament, but to claim that a player is incapable of gaining a bond with a nation outside of the one in which they were born is slightly naive. Compliment, probably. I think you nailed it when you said every situation is different, which is what I said on an earlier page as to their being a large grey area for the most part. The differences in the situations means that trying to pin it down to certain rulings will be unfair on alot of people. For example ruling it on birthplace is plain wrong imo because for the likes of Klose, Podolski and even Terry Butcher for England (although that's slightly different due to few cultural/family ties to a place like Singapore) they will more than likely have no connection to the country they were born in. But then pinning it down to purely citizenship reasons opens up doors to all these Brazilians latching on to any team they can after merely living in the country a couple of years. There's also alot of losers when it comes to people going with their heritage rather than their place of birth/home - it works both ways. For example the likes of Australia, USA and Switzerland have been repeatedly screwed over by players who live their lives in the countries who welcomed them (or their parents) with open arms, educated them, gave them job oppurtunities and allowed them to become the players they are through facilities and coaching - only for them players to then ditch that country at the last moment when the manager of their 'blood' nation rings them up asking if they want a game. The Serbs/Croats/.. are often the biggest culprits when it comes to this, which while you may think is down to strong allegiances to their 'bloodline' is more than likely purely so they can have a better chance of achieving. That's why players from Albania (Behrami) who have a poorer national team will often go for the better option in their host country and players from Serbia/Croatia (Kuzmanovic, Rakitic) who have better teams will choose their heritage. It's sad in this case when it comes down to furthering careers rather than making a real emotional decision. It's definitely a very touchy subject though, and will only become moreso with the loosening of borders. Good post. The thing about the fluid borders and all the extended families of Polish/Czech and other European origin is that it really will get to the point that if they really researched it the Germans could be picking a team from the whole of Europe. That is really what I'm trying to get at....

Germany's 2010 World Cup Team; German Or International? With the 2010 World Cup in South Africa just days away, nations are going to be submitting their final 23-man rosters. All nations participating have the right to bring their best 23 players with citizenship belonging to that country. The Germans, currently ranked 6th in the world rankings entering the World Cup, are a deep squad that will definitely be making a splash this in the coming weeks ahead. Having to face Australia, Serbia and Ghana, their road to Round 2 looks as if it will not have many hurdles. But exactly who are these Germans that look great on paper and even greater on the pitch? Although most of the footballers on the squad are born in East or West Germany and come from generations of Germans before them, a fair amount of them do not. Many of the players on the squad are born abroad or come from Non-German roots. And they are as follows. Forwards: There are six forwards that will possibly be in uniform come June 13 when Germany takes on Australia. How many of these forwards are German born though? The answer is 3. That means that fifty-percent of the German front line goal scorers are not born in the country. Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski are both born in Poland and Cacau is Brazilian born. Midfielders: There are also six midfielders that most definitely be dawning the black, red and yellow come tournament time. The problem is that the birth places of the middle six do not represent theses colors. Like many other German Nationals, Piotr Trochowski was born in Poland and Marko Marin is a product of Yugoslavia. Defenders: Out of 8 defenders in the current line-up, all but one is German born. The loner is Andreas Beck, a 23 year old footballer that hails from the Soviet Union. Goaltenders: The loan category that I struck out on as all 3 Goaltenders are German born and bred. As the facts state, six out of the twenty-three players on the roster of Germany are born in other counties. Should this be aloud? Should they be able to participate in the World Cup? All it takes is living and working (playing) in Germany for five or more years and citizenship is granted. What I also failed to mention earlier is this. Although perfectly legal, the following players are German born but descend from every edge of the world. Mario Gomez is half German as his father is born in Spain; he holds dual citizenship. Sami Khedira's father is from Tunisia. Mesut Ozil and Serdar Tasci both come from Turkish parents but are born in Germany. Dennis Aogo is a German born kid with Nigerian roots. Jerome Boateng is another dual holder with Ghana and Germany. Is the German National Football Team legitimate and legal? I guess so, but if I was running FIFA I would tighten up the rules and make it harder than it is to play for any particular nation. I feel like players wake up looking at the international rankings and then make a decision on what national team their going to play for. My question to all is, should Germany get to participate under the name "Germany" or should we give them a new title and maybe call them the "International Republic"?