Before international duel
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha could become the first player to play both for and against the Three Lions A-XI in Tuesday night’s England-Ivory Coast friendly in the past 100 years. Zaha’s former U21 national coach Gareth Southgate, today the head coach of the European runners-up, gave an insight into how the 29-year-old changed associations six years ago.
Born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and raised in England, the left winger made his way through England’s youth teams in the 2010s before being called up to the first team in 2012 under Roy Hodgson. After his debut against Sweden (2-4, four-pack Ibrahimovic), Zaha played another game for the Three Lions against Scotland (3-2) around nine months later. At this point, the Ivory Coast is said to have made increased efforts to get the services of the offensive powerhouse, including in the person of Didier Drogba, the top scorer at the time. Zaha, meanwhile, chose England first.
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“He had the self-confidence, had the feeling that he should have been in the squad,” quoted the “Daily Mail” as saying in retrospect the then Palace coach Alan Pardew. But Hodgson preferred other players, putting Zaha on the sidelines: “It was like I was rejected by the English side. I wasn’t selected for four years. Nobody even thought of me,” said the most valuable player in the Eagles squad by far. What followed were mutual public recriminations by the players and the association. The FA reportedly questioned Zaha’s willingness to play for England at all (Hodgson quote: “I expect him to cycle to the national team if necessary and be grateful if he’s nominated”).
Today’s national coach Southgate defends his predecessor in view of the events of the time: “Roy had players who were long before him (Note d. Red.: meant is Zaha) and then we had four games in a row where we were pretty happy with experienced players and didn’t want to bring in too many new players at that point.”
Zaha for Ivory Coast instead of England: Southgate & Hodgson admit complicity
Southgate tried at this stage to persuade his former Under-21 protégé to remain available for England but was not entirely blameless for the public nods himself. The Times quotes the 51-year-old as referring to a meeting in 2016: “I remember going to a hotel, playing Palace and meeting ‘Wilf’ there. But by this point he had made up his mind. I can understand it because he hasn’t played for three years. (…) I also remember that at that time (Note d. Red.: from the press) was asked about Zaha and I said players must also have a desire to play for England. That was taken out of context a bit, I would say, so it was a bit of a stretch for a while.”
“It wasn’t a reference to ‘Wilf’s’ attitude. You couldn’t have a more passionate player in your ranks, as anyone who has followed Crystal Palace over the past few years knows,” Southgate softened tones ahead of the reunion. Hodgson had already regretted losing Zaha for England in 2018 and admitted his complicity: “We didn’t investigate it sufficiently. I would say I bear a certain responsibility. I’m pretty sure many English managers who follow me will say it’s a shame he chose Ivory Coast.”
In 2017, Zaha made his debut for the Ivorians – as with England – against Sweden, since then he has played 21 international matches (5 goals). “Even though I told them ‘no’ before, Ivory Coast still believed in me because they knew what I could do for the team,” said the right-footer, who was 84 in last week’s 2-1 defeat by France minutes on the pitch.
“He is a good player who plays at a high level every week. And he’s a slightly different player than the ones we have. He had the opportunity to play at the Africa Cup of Nations because of his decision. Nobody had a crystal ball to know how it would have turned out the other way around, ”said Southgate before the meeting on Tuesday evening (from 8:45 p.m. in the TM live ticker).
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