I don`t know about the rules now, but did`nt Alfredo Di Stefano play for more than one country. He played for Argentina, Spain and, I think, Hungary.
Rangel could indeed play for Wales. I think how it works is if you live in the UK for however long it takes (5 years I think?) to gain residency, you can then play for any of the home nations. Maybe you have to have lived in the country you elect to play for, but I can tell you that on my epic Football Manager Swansea save game, which is in something like 2022, Angel Rangel is one of my scouts and has 22 caps for Wales!
I think its changed in recent years actually. Think it says somehwere you have to have been educated in that country for a period of time. Maybe completely making that up but sure I read it. Remember case recently with such a conflict
If you play for a club team long enough , you can play for that country nationally I think , it gives you options . Owen Hargraves had 4 countries to chose from with his options .Canada , England , Wales & Germany . I could be wrong about this & probably am but I think that's the scoop ! . If Rangel has never committed to any national team , I'm sure he could play for Wales now if he chose to because of the Length of time spent playing for Swansea ..
totally disagree with any foreigners playing for a country they was not born in, its totally false and down grades national sport, i could not care how good a player is he should only play for the country he was born in...
The Welsh have had a less than they deserved as far as I'm concerned . Was always a pretty good team there , but that's football .
He wouldn't be a foreigner, he would qualify for UK citizenship having spent 5 years as a resident. Seems fair enough that he should be allowed to represent a country which he clearly enjoys living in...
So what about someone who was born in the USA, but moved to England when he was 2 days old and lived his whole life there. And who's parents Are English. Are you saying he should only be allowed to play for USA? That's completely ridiculous. It might have worked 100 years ago, but people move around much more these days and aren't tied down to one nationality. Just because you happened to be born somewhere doesn't mean you have any real connection with the place. In any case, why would Rangel want to play for a team that's Conference quality?
i knew i was not making it up looks like you need to hold a british passport (possibly through residency) and have been educated in that country for 5 years. so rangel could NOT play for wales. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/8301339.stm
was of the understanding that you can play for another country up to under 21 level, but then years at the country you want to represent etc etc grandparents, william the conquerer, henry the VIII, etc etc, far to complicated - either where u were born or were your parents were born
You now get into a debate of what actually defines your nationality... I have a friend of Jamaican origin, born in England and spent all of his life in Wales. He considers himself Welsh and speaks Welsh fluently... How do you decide his nationality?
I'd say Welsh, but he can call himself English and Jamaican as well....it's all part of the lovely melting pot that makes the world interesting
We could spend all day debating this I think! Ha. In Rangels case, he probably sounds more Welsh when he speaks now than Vinnie Jones ever did...