Manchester United teenager Adnan Januzaj could play for England if he passes Fifa's five-year residency requirement, as he is yet to commit to another country.
Januzaj is eligible for selection by Belgium, Serbia, Albania and Turkey.
"If you live in England for five years it doesn't make you English," Arsenal's Wilshere, 21, said.
"If I went to Spain and lived there for five years I'm not going to play for Spain."
England boss Roy Hodgson has been monitoring 18-year-old midfielder Januzaj.
Wilshere, who earlier this week insisted he is not a smoker despite being pictured with a cigarette outside a nightclub, said: "We have to remember what we are.
"We are English. We tackle hard, are tough on the pitch and are hard to beat.
"We have great characters. You think of Spain and you think technical but you think of England and you think they are brave and they tackle hard. We have to remember that.
"The only people who should play for England are English people."
Liverpool's Raheem Sterling, born in Jamaica, and Wilfried Zaha of Manchester United, born in Ivory Coast, are part of the England Under-21 set-up along with West Brom's Saido Berahino, who left war-torn Burundi as a 10-year-old.
"It's a difficult one," said England Under-21 coach Gareth Southgate. "He [Januzaj] has not played for anyone else.
"We have lots of boys in our squad who were not born here, whose families have fled here.
"There are some wonderful stories and they are all incredibly proud to play for England.
"I'm torn with it. The world is changing. People move and work abroad. It is important to know why someone wants to play for you."
Cricketers Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott play for England despite being born in South Africa.
Southgate added: "We seem to have embraced the cricket team that has won the Ashes, but it is a really interesting, philosophical debate."
Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein said England must "play within the rules and get the best team we can".
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "We live in a changing world. There is much more fluidity in terms of population movement.
"I would say we must play within the rules but if, within rules, players are eligible, I would be inclined to pick best players we can get. Other countries do that."
Januzaj, who joined United in 2011 from Belgian club Anderlecht for a reported fee of nearly £300,000, was born in Brussels.
He has turned down the advances of Belgium, and has not won a cap at any level for any country.
Januzaj qualifies for Albania through his Kosovan-Albanian parents, Turkey through his grandparents and Serbia as Kosovo's independence has not been recognised by the United Nations. Kosovo's national team are not members of Uefa or Fifa.
Fifa, the sport's governing body, states a player is eligible if "he has lived continuously for at least five years after reaching the age of 18 on the territory of the relevant association".
That would mean Januzaj would have to wait until 2018 to represent England, assuming he remains in the country until he turns 23.
Source: BBC
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have Your Say