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No they don't. Players are not tied to any nation until they win their first senior cap. Case in point Kevin Prince Boateng. He was has a German mother and a Ghanaian father and so was eligible for both nations. He played over 40 times for Germany from U15 right through to U21 level, but wasn't selected for the senior side. Last year aged 23 he declared that he wanted to commit to Ghana, he made his debut for them just before the World Cup and now he is considered Ghanaian and can only represent Ghana in the future. His half brother, Jerome, was also eligible for Germany and Ghana, he chose to go with Germany and made his debut for the senior side in 2009. As such can only represent Germany in the future. This is how it should work in RL. Carr's proposal is a joke.
but I recall the Aussie press many times bemoaning the approaches of countries like Serbia and Croatia that approach our youngsters and try to get them by playing (I thought) 20s. Some they tie up, others they don't.
I guess they would just be doing that to try and integrate them into the system and make them more likely to commit in the future.Ok. I'm far from expert in the area of soccer.
I was under the impression that that Glenn and Taia only played because they were told that it wouldn't stop them from representing NZ? I think it because it wasn't international games. I'm pretty sure both wouldn't have played if it would have harmed their eligibility for NZ.
No, as I noted above they were playing for the Cook Islands Prime Ministers 15, not the Cook Islands national team. So whoever told them, gave them the correct information. I dont see how letting two players play for an invitation team is disrespecting the Cook Islands.
It wasn't a great example because the Cook Islands shouldn't even be considered a national team in the same way as other islands. If it was Samoa or something, then yeah your point would be valid.
No, I respect what they do but they are not a nation and shouldn't be in the World Cup. In soccer, the likes of Guadeloupe are able to enter regional competitions, but not attempt to qualify for the World Cup because they are territories and this would mean players having a choice of two nations - Guadeloupe is represented in the World Cup by France and all their players are eligible for France at any time regardless of whether they have played for Guadeloupe or not. This is the way Cook Islands should be treated in RL. Ironically Cook Islands are allowed to participate in soccer WC qualifiers, but the Oceana soccer qualifying section is a joke with no chance of any of the teams even coming close to qualifying. This shouldn't be the case in RL where Oceanic nations are much stronger.
