Ireland says no to English players in the Irish national football team!

While waiting for last week`s Brazil-Ireland international friendly to kick off, the 3 wise man have settled down in the RTE studio for their usual “brainstorming session”. As expected before, during and after the game we`ve been entertained by their utter footballing nonsense. On one hand they said "there were a lot of positive things to take away from this game Bill" (like what???) but very soon a familiar question has been raised. Should Ireland invite uncapped English footballers to play in our national team just because they qualify through to the so called “Granny rule”? The players in question were Jamie O`Hara (Tottenham/Portsmouth), Gary Cahill (Bolton) and Kevin Nolan (Newcastle).

Is this the case, that by the look of it this current Irish squad is unlikely to be able to reach the next World Cup (the Euro 2012 maybe, the draw was kind enough) hence it needs some artificial insemination of footballing talent? Or is Ireland just taking advantage of the rules like any other country?

In any case in any country when the next generation of football is being discussed the first thing to be looked at is the U21 team, isn`t? The Irish U21 team has been drawn in with Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Switzerland and Estonia for the 2011 Euro Championship qualifiers. No wins so far; all and all it is not looking good.

Group 2

Switzerland 16

Turkey 10

Estonia 9

Georgia 8

Armenia 7

Republic of Ireland 4

So while we are waiting for these youngsters to hopefully get better why not shop around at the neighbours?

Eamonn Dunphy, Johnny Giles and Ronnie Whelan have all agreed that it would be great to get any or all of the above mentioned English lads into the Irish jersey, pronto! Apparently Trappatoni is also very keen to land these players. I wonder why? According to Dunphy there is nothing wrong with the theory of having these English boys in our national team, since it has been happening all over the world. Well I beg to differ, and the examples he has brought up are totally irrelevant in the context of bringing O`Hara, Nolan and/or Cahill to Ireland. Here is why:

1. Deco for Portugal

Anderson Luís de Souza, aka Deco (born in Brazil) arrived in Portugal in 1997, at the age of 19 and has played for Benfica, Alverca, Salgueiros and Porto. He received Portuguese citizenship in 2002 having completed 6 years of residence in the country, has won the UEFA Cup in 2003 and the Champions League in 2004, all with Porto. This man has contributed a great deal towards Portuguese football and has truly deserved to be selected into the national team.

2. Camoranesi for Italy

Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra is an Italian Argentine, who arrived in Italy in 2000 being signed by Seria A club Verona before moving to Juventus in the 2002-2003 season. His dual citizenship made him eligible to play for the Azzurri and played his first international game under the watchful eyes of Signor Trappattoni. Camoranesi stayed loyal to the Old Lady even in the most difficult of times, when Juventus was relegated to Seria B in the aftermaths of the Calciopoli scandals. He was also part of the World Cup winning Italian team in 2006. He will never win fans over by saying that he feels 100% Argentine, however he also made it clear that he will always defend the Italian colours with his dear life.

3. Miroslav Klose for Germany

The 31 year old Bayern Munich striker qualified for the German national team through the German roots of his father. He doesn`t want to be regarded either Polish or German, and prefers to be called European. He has scored 10 goals in the World Cup finals so far and is 6 goals away being the all time highest goal scorer in the World Cup history. He spent his entire club career in Germany, playing for FC Homburg, FC Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich.

Obviously this list could go on and on, naming players in all different countries, from all over the world. However it is hard not to see the pattern: these players have spent a noticeably long career in their chosen countries, playing for local teams, winning countless trophies, settling down with their families and in certain cases learning the language. That is what I call contribution.

My problem with calling in the likes of Jamie O`Hara or Gary Cahill into the Irish squad is simple: these boys are still desperately waiting for a call up to the English team, because they are 100% ENGLISH. And they are right to wait. They are simply too young to give up hope to play for their country, they are talented and have every chance to earn the honour. Because it is an honour to play for your country, to stand there and listen to the national anthem and feel absolutely ecstatic or devastated depending how the results go. Can you imagine Kevin Nolan in floods of tears after a game? I somehow cannot. It could be maybe a quick fix if at all, but a risky one too for both Ireland and for the players in question.

Jamie O`Hara said he will wait until after the World Cup to decide which country to play for. I say it is highly unlikely that he would choose Ireland; it`s not as if we had qualified for some hot tournament that he is desperate not to miss. Why do we want players who would only pull on a green jersey if they are absolutely sure that the English squad would reject them????

Kevin Nolan apparently laughed when a journalist asked him about a possibility to play for Ireland instead. I cannot even be angry with him for it; you go son, I think it`s hilarious too.

Gary Cahill has been in the radar of Fabio Capello for some time, and he really has a good chance to make the squad very soon. Former Bolton manager Gary Megson summed it up nicely: “He’s been away with England a few times and I hope his ambitions lie there without being disrespectful to Ireland. The last time I looked Sheffield was in the middle of England and that’s where I’m sure he wants to play.”

I have two words for the impatient players and supporters: Luca Toni. He was handed his debut for Italy just after his 27th birthday in 2004 and subsequently went on to win the World Cup with the national team. Patience is a virtue.....

Do we really want English players in the Irish national football team?