YOU LOVE ENGLAND. YOU LOVE football. You love English football. So you are a typical Englishman. The reality of English society is often that the life is as good as the national football team is. You are patriotic: the impacts of the English game and the national team on your society are impressive.
So is it right that the England team could have a player who is not born in England and doesn’t even speak English properly? Could this kind of player lead your country to glory with his heart burning for the cause? Is he going to sing hand on his heart the national anthem? Even if he did know the words and helped England to success, would you English be happy about your national pride then? Are these questions even something international football should deal with?
Fifa regulations say they are. Rules allow a player to apply for a football nationality if he has played in a country for five years and not performed for any other national team before. England could, in theory, have a player like Carlo Cudicini in the side already. And many others are on the waiting list. They are good players, but not English. It doesn’t sound right.
Some things have to mean more, especially wearing a national team shirt. Foreign players might have come to stay in English football; however, they should not be allowed to play for your country. Otherwise international football could end up obeying economical power, like club football does. Maybe Roman Abramovich decides next to buy a national team and players for it. How weird it would be, for example, if Armenia became the Chelsea of international football!
The massive flow of foreign players to your country has raised this issue but also changed your beloved domestic game. During the international games, the training grounds are empty. It means both that England attracts the best players in the world and that there are fewer chances for your own young English players to come through. Still, I believe that with the help of foreign players and managers, English football has become better in recent years. The different kinds of skills, training methods and football know-how have increased the level of English clubs. However, it is essential that the core of the English game has still remained, because that makes it special and that is what you come to watch for. The small finesses have added flavour to it. At the moment England has arguably one of the most competitive and attractive leagues in the world.
The different playing styles and personalities from different cultural backgrounds make the game more exciting. It makes it also harder to understand. You might have seen the film Lost In Translation. It is a funny story about the situations and problems language and cultural barriers can create; for a football club it is everyday reality. English starts to be a minority language in some of the clubs. You might also laugh at commentators struggling to pronounce these difficult foreign names like Yakubu Ayegbeni or Aki Riihilahti. I am sure you can imagine all the weird things that happen at a club.
There are many dilemmas. Spanish players are used to having a free kick whenever they fall but English players are not used to divers. South American players want to play short passes when Scottish players are already running away for a long ball. How does a Latvian goalkeeper explain to a Chinese, Jamaican and Belgian wall which way to go! The price of misunderstandings can be high. Even if a foreign goalkeeper knows the essential “keeper words” and some swearwords, it won’t immediately give him a presence the defence can rely on. Sometimes the language of football is not enough.
It is not just the language but also a cultural barrier. I have played with a player that wanted to eat only late at night and have half a bottle of red wine with his meal. That didn’t really fit to the team programme the day before a game. The manager was also sometimes struggling to play a Muslim player because of his lifestyle during Ramadan. Clubs have to take all these things into consideration.
No matter how you want to respect other players’ customs, it isn’t always easy. I have roomed with a player that didn’t talk any language I knew, refused to watch television and woke up at 5am to pray loudly on his mat. It wasn’t the preparation I wanted before a game, but how could I complain about another person’s beliefs. There are many such examples.
However, it can also be a blessing: you learn about other cultures and see different ways to live. In one Norwegian club I witnessed a non-communicational French, Finnish, Vietnamese thanksgiving dinner, even though none of these countries normally celebrate this day. Sometimes, though, it is too big a challenge to understand all the different backgrounds and it would be better to have no foreigners at all.
I am alone in a country with a different language and customs to mine — your country. Sometimes I miss home. However, I always think it is my duty to adapt to your society; that is the only way I can justify my being here. Obviously, I have to produce results on the pitch as well. It is me who has to make sure that there are no problems on or off the pitch. You don’t necessarily need me here. I think every foreigner ha s to respect the fact that we have been given a great opportunity to play football here so we should also work hard to adapt to your culture and customs.
I am not the best foreign player that has played in your stadiums and my name is ridiculously hard to pronounce, but at least I treat England and English culture with great respect. I promise that I am never going to play for England, though. I am not eligible, nor good enough, but I also think it would be wrong. I know where I come from and I am proud of it. I think so should all the others who are even considering using this nationality ruling. The only rule foreigners should follow is to try to be not lost in translation.
