Germany set to lose starlet

[iKnan]

Iranian/German player, plays for Hertha and Germany youth team.


http://persianfootball.com/news/images/Dejagah.jpg

SKYSPORTS - Bundesliga starlet Ashkan Dejagah has revealed he would consider playing for Iran at international level.

The Hertha Berlin playmaker, believed to be one of the country's brightest prospects, already plays for Germany at Under 20 level.

But both his parents are Iranian and he was born in Iran before moving to Germany at a young age.

Dejagah had seemed set to continue progressing in Europe, but now admits he is holding out for a formal approach by the Iran Football Federation.

"Although I am playing for Germany's national team Iran is always in the back of my mind," he told IRNA.

"I am Iranian, my family is Iranian and my heart beats for Iran.

"If there is an offer from the Iranian federation to join the national squad, I would discuss it with my parents, especially with my father."

Dejagah boasts a fine scoring record at youth level for both club and the country he currently represents, and news of a switch would come as a much needed boost for Iran, as they look to plan for the next World Cup in 2010.

[Sataris]

if he's already capped at U20 level isnt it end of discussion?

i'm not clear on these sorts of things

[iKnan]

if he's already capped at U20 level isnt it end of discussion?

i'm not clear on these sorts of things

I'm sure he is a starter in U-20 but I don't know the exact rule, it's probably possible that's why he has considered it. I know Zandi did it, but he didn't have any German NT caps.

[No1_Dave]

"I am Iranian, my family is Iranian and my heart beats for Iran."

pretty obvious no?

[cartbran]

if he's already capped at U20 level isnt it end of discussion?
I believe you can be capped through the youth sides to U-21, but then have to declare. Whatever senior team you are capped with you cannot change.

I seem to be reading a lot of articles from players with dual nationality talking about this. Ah, I found the article (http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6245719,00.html)
Tussle for talent between Africa and Europe
By Mark Gleeson
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The increasing emergence of talented, young footballers who have their roots in Africa but have been schooled in Europe is creating friction between the two continents.

African and European countries are jostling to persuade several prodigious players to commit their international futures to their respective causes, in most cases causing an emotive pull on the heart strings.

In recent weeks there have been accusations of underhand dealings and a growing animosity as countries turn up the pressure for the best talent.

Ibrahim Afellay of PSV Eindhoven, for example, is the subject of a tense tussle between Morocco and the Netherlands. The promising midfielder, born in the Netherlands to immigrant parents, has
played for the Dutch at junior level but can still, before his 21st birthday in April, opt to play for Morocco.

FIFA regulations allow players with dual nationality to change their international allegiance before the age of 21 if they have not won a full international cap. Afellay recently told Dutch television he was still undecided despite persistent wooing by Netherlands coach Marco van Basten and his Moroccan counterpart Mohamed Fakhir.

PASSPORT REFUSED
Earlier this month, PSV accused the Moroccan federation of seeking to sway Afellay and the 18-year-old Ismail Aissati to their cause with generous offers of cash.

"The Moroccan federation have let it been known they will do anything to get these youngsters on their side," Afellay's agent Ed van Stijn told the Voetbal International magazine on Nov. 8.

The Dutch have also been involved in two other high-profile cases with young African talent. Their bid to entice Salomon Kalou was thwarted by their own government, who refused the Ivorian striker a passport ahead of this year's World Cup finals.

They missed out on Amsterdam-born prodigy Mbark Boussoufa, who enthusiastically opted to play for Morocco in May. The Anderlecht midfielder is now a regular in the north Africans' line-up. France moved swiftly last month to cap two other talents who had both been called up by African countries.

Habib Bellaid and Issiar Dia are French-born but have roots in Tunisia and Senegal respectively and were invited by them to play in African Nations Cup qualifiers in October. Instead they featured for the French under-21 side in recent matches against Israel and Sweden. Nancy striker Dia, 19, told France Football last week that he was still keeping open his options.

FORMATIVE TRAINING
Bellaid, who played for Racing Strasbourg in Ligue 2, said he still held out hopes of playing for Tunisia where his parents had returned in recent years. "But I had to honour the call-up from the French coach out of respect for my club and for my coaches," the 20-year-old told Tunisian reporters.

Players whose formative training has been in Europe are highly regarded by African federations eager to boost their competitiveness in the world arena. European-born players in African national teams are no new phenomenon. When Algeria played France in a friendly at the Stade de France in 2001, there were as many players born in France on Algeria's side as there were in the French team.

Algeria have been trying to persuade Watford surprise package Hameur Bouazza to join their cause while Moroccan newspapers have in recent weeks highlighted the emergence of 17-year-old Ibrahim Maaroufi, who recently made his debut at Serie A champions Inter Milan.

He was brought up in Brussels and joined Inter from the youth structures of PSV Eindhoven. "The (Belgian) national coach (Rene Vandereycken) came to see me in Milan," Maaroufi said earlier this month. "He said he is counting on me in the future."

Nigeria's interest in Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor is likely to speed up a possible England cap for the striker in the New Year.

[sweed]

you could still play u-21 and change i believe? i think kanoute or someone in the epl had that issue between mali and france(?).

[antujebon]

it's a loss for germany, and a gain for Iran (though wouldn't think too much about it, cause he's actually Iranian)...

proud of him though, sticking to his roots (just like someone i know who plays for Man Utd..now who could that be ? :D )

[mambo]

He played about 10 matches in the League so far, who knows if its a big loss.
I just hope the iranians dont get a cultural shock when he arrives, because he`s originally grown in the streets of Berlin :p

[antujebon]

He played about 10 matches in the League so far, who knows if its a big loss.
I just hope the iranians dont get a cultural shock when he arrives, because he`s originally grown in the streets of Berlin :p

ohhhh.....berlin huh ? well, looks like he has to do his shopping somewhere else rather than kuh-damm :rolleyes: but regardless his nationality, he's gonna play european footie for a long time, if not in germany, somewhere else...

[iKnan]

He played about 10 matches in the League so far, who knows if its a big loss.
I just hope the iranians dont get a cultural shock when he arrives, because he`s originally grown in the streets of Berlin :p

before when I saw his picture, I never thought he would have such Iranian blood in him. I guess I judged the book by it's cover, the haircut the tattoos :D

the current coach DOESN'T like to invite players who are also from other nationalities. one reason he kicked off Ferydoon Zandi after world cup. But Ashkan is different, I didn't even know both his parents were Iranian and on top of that he was born in Iran...never knew that.

[Dirtycheat]

before when I saw his picture, I never thought he would have such Iranian blood in him. I guess I judged the book by it's cover, the haircut the tattoos :D

the current coach DOESN'T like to invite players who are also from other nationalities. one reason he kicked off Ferydoon Zandi after world cup. But Ashkan is different, I didn't even know both his parents were Iranian and on top of that he was born in Iran...never knew that.

he doesnt look german, thats for sure but i would have guessed he would have come from that part of the world, near the middle east, although the iranians ive seen usually have lighter skin, not sure if thats the case for all iranian people?

ive seen a few players with tattoos that call themselves muslim, dont know if that his religion too? ie mido has tattoos, diouf has a tattoo in his left are cheek etc etc

i think there is a time limit too for him to make an iran cap before he has to play for Germany for the rest of his career.

[jr!]

something similar happened with Nuri Sahin of Dortmund.
He had a choice to play for Germany (born & raised to Turkish parents), or Turkey, he chose Turkey & became the youngest Turkish international (on Senior A team) at 17 or thereabouts & scored against Germany in his 1st game.

[antujebon]

it all comes down to where ur heart lies, i guess....there's alot more example of players that are playing abroad, with different nationalities playing for different countries...IMO it comes down to what the players' themselves think about their future...eg santos has no chance in hell to play for brazil, but changing his nationality made him a first team everytime for japan
if this HSV player plans to make it in the german team, good luck, cause there's definitely loads more german talents out there, waiting to be picked out

[fener]

something similar happened with Nuri Sahin of Dortmund.
He had a choice to play for Germany (born & raised to Turkish parents), or Turkey, he chose Turkey & became the youngest Turkish international (on Senior A team) at 17 or thereabouts & scored against Germany in his 1st game.

Thank God too. Though Germany has been taking a couple of young turks recently.

[jak914]

Thank God too. Though Germany has been taking a couple of young turks recently.
well if you look at the number of turks now living in germany it kinda makes some sense. i am almost predicting that eventualy there will be more turks living in germany than there are germans. it seems like it is going that way. or at least it will be close in numbers. will be interesting to see how it ends up.

[No1_Dave]

lol @ jak914

but probably true ...

based on the declining/increasing birth rates...

[fener]

well if you look at the number of turks now living in germany it kinda makes some sense. i am almost predicting that eventualy there will be more turks living in germany than there are germans. it seems like it is going that way. or at least it will be close in numbers. will be interesting to see how it ends up.

I just feel like they are acting traitorous.

lol the day we take over germany .........

[antujebon]

the thing with germany is that....more and more turks are here(maybe it's the same case as the african-american are in the states)...
met up with alot of my german colleagues, they don't seem to like the turks very much....maybe it's in their history ? i dunno.....
but alot of turkish players play in the bundesliga...maybe who knows, the turks would be more than the german themselves :confused:

[macro]

just to get the facts right a wiki quote

Etwa 75 Millionen Menschen (91 %) sind deutsche Staatsbürger. Von diesen haben wiederum sieben Millionen Bürger einen Migrationshintergrund


it´s saying germany has 75mio. inhabitants, 91% are german citizens.
7mio. out of the 91% have a migration backround.

[chauchey]

this is also a problem for ice hockey. As spoiled as Canada is, there are alot, and i mean alot, of players who have had fathers from Canada play for USA club teams, and thusly grow up, or are born in the states. And then we loose them. Admittedly we have a glut of talent, and could in some years field 2 competitive A teams, but still, its sad that heritage is lost due to lack of work in a country. This goes for both ice hockey, and futbol.

[jak914]

this is also a problem for ice hockey. As spoiled as Canada is, there are alot, and i mean alot, of players who have had fathers from Canada play for USA club teams, and thusly grow up, or are born in the states. And then we loose them. Admittedly we have a glut of talent, and could in some years field 2 competitive A teams, but still, its sad that heritage is lost due to lack of work in a country. This goes for both ice hockey, and futbol.
all very true chauchey

[mambo]

Though Germany has been taking a couple of young turks recently.

You got Nuri Sahin, that should compensate alot :p