Wilfried Zaha’s agent has hit out at comments made by England manager Gareth Southgate surrounding the winger’s decision to switch international allegiance to the Ivory Coast.
Southgate claimed that Zaha did not have the ‘desire’ to play for England and should have felt ‘100 percent passion’ for the nation, saying that players should be coming to him to be selected for international duty.
His comments have prompted a strong response from Zaha’s agent Will Sathouse, who has spoken to the Mirror, putting to bed some of the comments made by the England manager during an interview.
“The ‘private’ meeting with Mr Southgate was very amicable.
“However, the fact remains that Wilfried made his decision to play for the Ivory Coast prior to Mr Southgate being appointed interim and subsequently permanent England manager.
“It was Wilfried’s personal choice and it was his right as a senior player to accept the opportunity to represent his nation of birth and that of his family heritage.
“His ‘desire’ or ‘passion’ should never have been publicly questioned for making that decision.”
Zaha scored a solo wondergoal for the Ivory Coast on Friday against Russia, his second in six appearances for his home nation, the country in which the winger lived until the age of four.
Zaha only made two appearances for England prior to his switch of allegiance, in two non-competitive games, with his debut coming at the age of 20 against Sweden.
“Wilfried is very proud of his family and very proud to represent the Ivory Coast, most recently demonstrated by his performance against Russia.”
Twitter: Wilfried Zaha goal vs Russia yesterday
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