Best XI of stars who changed nationality including Jack Grealish as Wilfried Zaha prepares to face England with new team
WILFRIED ZAHA and Jack Grealish could meet on the pitch at Wembley next week – but both players could easily be wearing national shirts of other countries.
The two stars may go head-to-head when England take on Ivory Coast in a friendly.
But those two men are not the only ones to have represented their countries and later switched allegience.
In fact, some of the greatest players on the planet – past and present have done the same.
Players can swap nations if they are under the age of 21 and have featured in no more than three competitive games.
The rules haven’t always been so strict though, with many big-name players switching allegiances down the years.
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We take a look at the best XI of nation-swappers.
It’s an outrageously attacking line up.
But we reckon that it could match up against some of the best international teams of all-time.
And we start in goal with a stopper that Premier League fans know well:
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GOALKEEPER – Asmir Begovic
Born in Bosnia & Herzegovina, Begovic and his family moved to Canada when he was ten years old.
The Everton goalkeeper played 11 times for Canada’s Under-20s and looked set to break into their senior side.
But in 2009, Begovic opted to play for the country of his birth – and has earned 63 cap since.
DEFENDER – Victor Moses
Born in Nigeria and raised in London, Moses played for England‘s Under-162, U17s, U19s and U21s.
But he gave up on a spot in the senior side and switched to the nation of his birth in 2012, where he has won 37 caps.
And he helped them to African Cup of Nations glory in 2013.
DEFENDER – Neven Subotic
Subotic was born in Bosnia & Herzegovina (then Yugoslavia) but grew up in the USA, playing for their Under-17s and U20s.
In 2008, he opted to play for Serbia – for whom he qualified through Bosnian-Serb parents – and played 36 times.
DEFENDER – Declan Rice
Rice famously won three caps for Ireland in 2018 having worked his way through the youth teams thanks to his grandparents being Irish.
But he controversially switched to England the next year.
The London-born star proved where his heart lies by playing a key role in last year’s run to the final of Euro 2020.
And he will be hoping to add to his 27 caps when the Three Lions face Switzerland Ivory Coast.
CENTRE-MID – Thiago Motta
The former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star was born in Brazil but qualified for Italy thanks to the grandfather on his father’s side.
After playing twice for Brazil in the 2003 Gold Cup, Motta later switched allegiance to play for Italy EIGHT years later.
Motta won 30 caps for Italy and was part of their 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016 squads.
RIGHT-WING – Wilfried Zaha
After working his way through England’s Under-17s and U20s teams, Zaha made his full England debut in a friendly against Sweden in 2012, replacing fellow debutant Raheem Sterling.
But after dropping down the pecking order, Zaha switched to turn out for Ivory Coast at the 2017 African Cup of Nations, earning 20 caps to date.
Ex-Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson – Zaha’s boss at Palace for the past four years – later admitted he regretted not playing the winger in a competitive game to tie him to England, despite giving him his debut vs Sweden.
Now he will be looking to down England next week.
ATTACKING-MIDFIELD – Michel Platini
Having scored 41 times in 72 games for France, helping them win the 1984 Euros, Platini hung up his boots in 1987.
But he came out of retirement to bizarrely play for Kuwait in a friendly against the Soviet Union in 1988, playing 21 minutes of the 2-0 defeat.
LEFT-WING – Jack Grealish
Born in Birmingham, Grealish worked his way through the Irish youth teams thanks to his paternal grandparents and maternal grandfather coming from Ireland.
Despite playing six times for Ireland’s Under-21s, England poached him at the same level before the former Aston Villa captain made himself a crucial part of the Three Lions’ senior squad.
Now starring for Man City, Grealish is likely to be involved for England over the next week.
FORWARD – Alfredo Di Stefano
Incredibly, the legendary Real Madrid striker player for Argentina, Colombia AND Spain during his illustrious career.
Di Stefano was born in Argentina and won six caps for them, before switching to Colombia and winning a further four caps.
Eight years later – and ten years after his final Argentina game – he won his first Spain cap – going on to score 23 times in 31 games.
FORWARD – Diego Costa
In 2013, during his second stint at Atletico Madrid, Costa earned two caps for his native Brazil.
But he immediately applied for Spanish citizenship and after it was approved in 2014 he went straight into the first-team.
Costa played for Spain at two World Cups scoring ten goals in 24 games in total.
FORWARD – Ferenc Puskas
The former Real Madrid scoring machine as the Best Goal of the Year award named after.
He scored 84 times in 85 games for Hungary between 1945 and 1956.
But Puskas switched to Spain in 1961 in the middle of his time at Los Blancos, but failed to score in four caps.