Michael Chopra: Wants to play for India!

There is good news ahead of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup for Indian football. English born "Player of Indian Origin" Michael Chopra has officially stated that he wants to play for the Indian national team! And for this purpose Michael will be travelling to Dubai over the weekend to meet Team India. And lets hope he can play for India in the Asian Cup and be an asset for our team.

Behind the scenes Michael's agents at Matchworld have been in touch with the All India Football Federation as well as national coach Bob Houghton to see how it could be worked out that Michael Chopra could play for India. But things are still early as there are a number of red tape issues still to be resolved regarding nationality eligibility. As per FIFA statutes Michael qualifies to play for India as his grand parents were born in India, but the Government of India rules of having to be an Indian citizen to represent India could delay the process.

Michael will meet up with our national Team coach Bob Houghton for talks in Dubai on Sunday, November 14; ahead of the national team's friendly against Kuwait. Michael will watch the match and discussion will take place with regards to his eligibility and he will also get to meet his new teammates.

Michael will travel with his representatives Kenny Moyes and Yogesh Joshee to the
training camp on Sunday and will return to commence training with Cardiff City FC in preparation for the clubs next Championship fixture thereafter.

Michael is extremely flattered that due to his Indian background he has been approached by a country who are at an exciting stage in their football development and looking to make a mark on the international stage for India.

Michael Chopra is a former England Junior international, a former England Under-20 captain, who has come through the youth development system at Newcastle United. Besides playing at Newcastle, he has also played at Sunderland AFC and on loan for FC Watford, Nottingham Forest and Barnsley FC.

Michael was the first South Asian footballer to score a goal in the English Premier League and has had a fruitful time at Cardiff City FC, who are pushing for Premiership promotion this year. Over the years Michael has scored more then 50 goals for the Bluebirds.

Besides representing Michael Chopra the agency of Matchworld also represent Sunil Chhetri and some other Indian player. Matchworld earlier this year made Sunil Chhetri's move to MLS side Kansas City Wizards possible.

As being the person who started the whole "Player of Indian Origin" search about a decade back and the search yielding no results so far or authorities not pushing for quality PIO's to be integrated into senior or junior national teams, it would be a delight to see Michael play for us. And as I have said a number of times in the past, I believe that a striker of his quality would be someone who can help our national team. Think about it, maybe next season we could have an Indian international in the Premier League.