Foreigners

"I just think we should always have one because it's cheating in a way. If we couldn't score goals, are we allowed to get Italy's centreforward? We're not, are we? Or get Gianluigi Buffon in goal?"
- Jamie Carragher, English and Liverpool defender, on whether or not the English national football team should have an English manager instead of a foreign one

Jamie's opinion, of course, flies in the face of the fact that, across many disciplines of sports, at various professional and amateur levels, national representatives have used and are using foreign coaches to reach the pinnacle.

The examples are so spectacularly numerous that I won't bother gathering case studies, but rather simply discuss the merits of the comment itself.

Why, exactly, must a national team be managed by someone born in that nation? Or even someone of that nationality (a naturalized citizen, perhaps)?

Of course we know of the cases where foreigners have come to represent national teams, even on the playing field:

• Marcos Senna (Brazilian) and Mariano Pernía (Argentine) for Spain
• Deco (Brazilian) for Portugal
• Santos (Brazilian, again) for Japan
• Gonzalo Higuaín (French-born to Argentine father) for Argentina
• Mauro Camoranesi (Argentine-born with Italian ancestry) for Italy
• Kevin-Prince Boateng (German-born to Ghanaian father) for Ghana
• Lukas Podolski and Piotr Trochowski (both Polish) for Germany
• Cacau (Brazilian) for Germany
• Alfredo Di Stéfano (Argentine) for Colombia and Spain

That's by no means a comprehensive list, but a fairly significant one, nevertheless.

If the above footballers were able to represent other countries simply by becoming a naturalized citizen, why are we limiting ourselves to domestically-born coaches and managers when the regulations regarding their nationalities are not nearly as stringent as the ones regarding the players?

Another topic of debate lately has been whether Mikel Arteta, eligible after spending five years at Everton, should be called up to the England squad. Some have called against it, again bringing up the whole "foreigners in the English game stunting development of young English players" load of crock.

If Arteta is eligible and is better than the other options, I don't see a reason why they shouldn't call him up, as other nations have done with their naturalized citizens. The biggest difference, of course, is the fact that Spain and English have no historical ties with each other, unlike the aforementioned examples.

What we really need to ask is, if England wins a championship (finally) with foreigners (naturalized or otherwise) in the squad or at the helm, will it taint their victory in any way? Will the English people begrudge the players in the squad, especially the foreigners, for their success?

On the evidence of how negative some of their reactions have been, I'd say it's altogether possible. Even if a foreigner is willing to play for or coach the English team, the English people are far too close-minded to plump for him, let alone celebrate his success with the team. Just look at the initial reaction to Sven-Göran Eriksson's appointment.

Last word: Jamie, it's not "cheating" if there's no rule against it. Stop self-imposing rules and limitations to hamper your own chance for success. It makes you look unambitious.