Well said, Jack Wilshere. Only Adnan Januzaj knows what he is, nationality-wise. But Wilshere was right to speak plainly about what he isn’t.
England for the English? In footballing terms, it’s not an ugly phrase, merely an expression of the basis on which the international game should be conducted — as a last bastion of principle.
Greg Dyke could do worse than invite the Arsenal midfielder to join his inquiry into England’s future. Indeed I wish Wilshere had been Football Association chairman since he was about six. Then the organisation would not have wasted all that money on foreign managers.
Although Wilshere politely coupled his remarks with gratitude to Fabio Capello for introducing him to the squad, it is reasonable to assume that Roy Hodgson would have been just as capable of spotting his exceptional talent.
Januzaj is another whose ability would immediately strike anyone with the vaguest knowledge of football. Old geezers like me might be reminded of a previous prodigy who emerged at Manchester United — George Best.
Best arrived from Belfast at around the same age — 16 — as Januzaj came from Brussels. Had the qualification rules been as now, he could have waited for England, joined them when they were world champions and, in 1970, maybe helped to make a difference against the great Brazilians.
It would have been a thrilling but dishonest development and, while giving England the most naturally gifted footballer of its history, would have denied the Northern Ireland football community some wonderful memories; even neutrals lucky enough to be present cherish the night he took on Johan Cruyff and company in Rotterdam.
Or maybe Best would have gone the way of Gazza. Who knows? I’m glad we never found out. The distinction of international football should be that you take the card you are dealt and don’t try to buy another.
To hell with other sports. Let football embrace Wilshere’s law.
