Jack Wilshere has been the subject of much media scrutiny in the last few days, all of it for his off-field behaviour. Following the controversy over the photo of the young Arsenal midfielder smoking that circulated before the weekend, now he is at the centre of a row over who should and shouldn't represent England.
Wilshere was quoted in several English newspapers this morning, having been asked in a press conference whether the likes of Adnan Januzaj should be allowed to play for England. Perhaps naively, he replied:
“No, for me, if you are English, you are English, and you play for England. The only people who should play for England are English people.”
“If you’ve lived in England for five years, for me, it doesn’t make you English. You shouldn’t play. It doesn’t mean you can play for that country. If I went to Spain and lived there for five years, I’m not going to play for Spain. For me an English player should play for England really.”
Earlier today, the 21-year-old took to Twitter to defend himself.
Just to clarify a few things....again! Seems to be a trend in this country, poor journalism in my eyes! I wasn't referring to Janujaz...
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 9, 2013
The question was should foreign players be allowed to play for England, and in my opinion I don't think they should! He is a great player...
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 9, 2013
I wish he was English! I'm sure most of you agree with me even if some journalist are trying to make me look bad....again!
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 9, 2013
However, England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was not satisfied with Wilshere's explanation and challenged him over his definition of "foreigner", citing some other non-England born sports stars to have represented the country.
.@JackWilshere -interested to know how you define foreigner...? Would that include me, Strauss, Trott, Prior, Justin Rose, Froome, Mo Farah?
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) October 9, 2013
@KP24 With all due respect Mr Pietersen the question was about Football! Cricket, cycling, Athletics is not my field!
— Jack Wilshere (@JackWilshere) October 9, 2013
.@JackWilshere same difference.. It's about representing your country! IN ANY SPORT!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) October 9, 2013
