World Cup qual. - Ferdinand not keen on Almunia

Eurosport - Thu, 09 Oct 09:20:00 2008

Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand does not want Arsenal's Spanish goalkeeper Manuel Almunia to play for England.

FOOTBALL 2007-2008 Premier League Arsenal Almunia - 0

Ferdinand was speaking from England's training camp ahead of World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Belarus, where West Brom's Scott Carson and West Ham's Robert Green are providing back-up to number one shot-stopper David James.

"That's for the FA to decide but I'm sure if he was picked for Spain he would play for Spain in front of England," Ferdinand said of Almunia, 31, who has expressed an interest in switching allegiances.

"So if that happens I don't think it's really working right.

"So if Spain had picked him now and he had a choice of playing for Spain or England who is he going to pick?

"I'm sure he'd pick Spain so that means he is not English."

Almunia has been in England for over four years and is eligible to play for the country as his wife is English and he has never played for Spain.

James, 38, is prone to making errors but so are the less experienced Carson (23), Green (28) and Blackburn Rovers' Paul Robinson (28), while injuries have restricted Chris Kirkland (27) to just over half of Wigan's league games since he joined in 2006.

Owen Hargreaves is currently the only foreign-born player in contention for Fabio Capello's squad.

Reda Maher / Eurosport

Comment 26 - 45 of 85

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. rather to choose foster than almunia,,,

    From backbone_86, on Thu 9 Oct 10:45AM

  2. England need about 8 foreigners to declare for them to­ make it a half decent club side.

    From D, on Thu 9 Oct 9:42AM

  3. Rio Gavin Ferdinand is your vice captain, so when he­ speaks please listen and dont argue with the man. Its­ not about racism and its not about Manchester or­ Arsenal, but its simply about the English representing­ the English.

    From supermats, on Thu 9 Oct 9:20AM

  4. Since when has Ferdinand been the England manager? At­ least Almunia hasnt taken drugs and is intelligent so­ its a start on cleaning up Englands defence!Paul w.

    From p.worthington02, on Thu 9 Oct 9:05AM

  5. Since when has Ferdinand been the England manager? At­ least Almunia hasnt taken drugs and is intelligent so­ its a start on cleaning up Englands defence!

    From p.worthington02, on Thu 9 Oct 9:04AM

  6. For weeks we have heard all the respect stories around­ players and fans, So what does Ferdinand say he's­ not keen on Almunia for England, Not once has he said­ its for his performances at Arsenal.

    So stop moaning­ about racism when your the biggest racist of them­ all.

    @#$%

    From John, on Thu 9 Oct 8:55AM

  7. He isn't good enough for Arsenal let alone england­ and I'm an Arsenal fan!! He doesn't command hes­ box he couldn't catch a cold and dracula is less­ scared of crosses!! any more cliches?

    From maguirejj1, on Thu 9 Oct 8:40AM

  8. To: Perfect_shy ; Ronaldo couldnt play for England if­ he wanted to because he has already played for­ Portugal.. playing international football isnt like­ playing for a club, you cant play musical teams until­ you find one you like.

    From eziey16, on Thu 9 Oct 8:32AM

  9. Obviously I meant ENGLAND, not Englang... But he­ probably isn't worthy to play for Englang either!

    From Robert T, on Thu 9 Oct 8:20AM

  10. ALMUNIA is lucky to be playing for ARSENAL! He is not­ worthy of cleaning the gloves of Carson, Green,­ Kirkland et al. Seriously, as soon as people realise­ that any weakness at the back for Englang can be­ attributed to Rio Ferdinand, the quicker we can all­ move forward!

    From Robert T, on Thu 9 Oct 8:19AM

  11. what if my cheese doesnt like your cheese does that­ mean ronnie corbett between the sticks

    From Danny, on Thu 9 Oct 5:43AM

  12. no cos hes a gaYer

    From Danny, on Thu 9 Oct 5:37AM

  13. no cos hes a gayer

    From Danny, on Thu 9 Oct 5:37AM

  14. what if "cr7" showed his interest to play for­ England..do you think rio will argue?

    From perfect_shy, on Thu 9 Oct 4:54AM

  15. well it's simple. If Almunia showed performance­ week-in and week-out that make everyone go "oh my­ god he's so good I wish he played for­ England!", then it will happen. ;)

    Just imagine­ - if Schumeichel in 90s was somehow eligible and showed­ interest in playing for England, everybody would've­ welcomed him with open arms and he would've been­ like England's favourite adopted son.

    From Yea-Joon, on Thu 9 Oct 3:14AM

  16. Munia for england!! ferdinands just bein a prikk

    From Danny, on Thu 9 Oct 2:26AM

  17. come on amann are you stoned or somethin, do some­ research before you make stupid comments, i mean you­ are on the internet n all! ben foster!!! savage...

    From flinto, on Thu 9 Oct 1:40AM

  18. Ferdie should keep his trap shut he's a druggie and­ talks a load of @#$%.

    From PHILIP C, on Thu 9 Oct 12:09AM

  19. Why do they allow stupid people to comment on these­ blogs??

    Amaan, go have a @#$% you moron.

    From Charly K, on Wed 8 Oct 11:50PM

  20. brad fredal of aston villa am sure his granparents or­ someone is english lol.

    From Amaan A, on Wed 8 Oct 11:42PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account