Reuters
London, August 30: Newly-appointed England manager Sam Allardyce is keen to the leave the door open for foreign born players to enter the national team set-up and has told the British media he would have no problem picking a player who qualified only through residency. He also stated that Wayne Rooney will continue to lead England as they start their quest to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The Three Lions will play Slovakia, Sunday.
“Wayne has been an excellent captain for England and the manner in which he has fulfilled the role made it an easy decision for me to ask him to continue,” Allardyce was quoted as saying by the FA website (www.thefa.com), Tuesday.
Rooney, 30, took over as captain from Steven Gerrard in 2014 and is on course to become England’s most-capped outfield player. The match against Slovakia will be his 116th for England, one more than David Beckham. Only Peter Shilton (125) has more caps than him.
“Wayne’s record speaks for itself,” said Allardyce. “He is the most senior member of the squad and is hugely respected by his peers.”
Meanwhile talking on the aspect of foreign-born players Allardyce revealed he had hoped to call up Steven N’Zonzi, who has lived in England for six years, but his attempts were thwarted by FIFA because the Sevilla midfielder is ineligible after featuring for the France under-21 side.
The FA has previously held discussions over possible call-ups for several players including goalkeeper Manuel Almunia, midfielder Mikel Arteta and winger Adnan Januzaj on residency grounds.
“Do you pick the best squad to win the World Cup, and if one or two of those are like N’Zonzi, do you do it? Or don’t you and then suffer the consequences of not getting to the quarterfinal and failure?” pointed out Allardyce.
“The percentage of English players in the Premier League is 31 per cent. Surely if you’re going to win something and that player is of the calibre to force his way into our national side then you give him an opportunity. If he goes out and scores the winner will it be quite that bad… for England,” he added.
