The five U-17s who chose to play with the National Team

Being from the Red pulls a lot. The successes of the National Team in the last two decades in all categories have made the Spanish National Team an irresistible attraction for players with dual nationality who can choose which country to represent, either because they were born outside of Spain or because of their origins. from his parents. In the U-17 there are up to five players who have preferred to wear the Spain shirt over that of other teams: Simo, Yarek, Yusi, Mahamadou and Carvalho. It was clear to everyone when they received the call from La Roja: refusing was not an option.

The parents of Mahamadou Susoho Sissoho (Granollers, 2005) were born in Gambia and they migrated to Spain almost two decades ago, where they had the current player from the Manchester City youth academy. CAt just 11 years old, the Mancunian team signed the Catalan midfielder and after several seasons in England, Mahamadou was called up by the three lions team in the U-16 category. Despite this, when the RFEF contacted him to play for Spain, he did not hesitate. In November 2021, he accepted Pablo Amo’s call to go with the U-18 despite being a year younger than the rest of his teammates and was key for Julen in the elite round in which the U-17 sealed their classification by European.

Another who was also called up with another team was Wassim Keddari ‘Simo’, although the Espanyol center-back never made his debut with the Algerian youth team, where his parents are from, the cuáes met in Barcelona, ​​despite being from the same place of origin. Simo ended up being born and raised in Terrasa and his debut with La Rojita came in the Algarve International Tournament that the U-17 won after beating Slovakia, Germany and Portugal.

Youssef Enríquez (Moratalaz) and Yarek Gasiorowski (Valencia) were also tempted by their parents’ national teams. Yusi, a Madrid side, was called Morocco, his mother’s country, when he had already debuted with the inferiors of Spain. There was nothing to think about. Yarek, however, was contacted by Poland, his father’s birthplace, when he had not debuted with La Rojita. Luckily for Spain, the calls from the two federations came at the same time. Twelve games with the U-17 endorse him as one of the key pieces of Julen Guerrero’s team.

Miguel Carvalho, however, was born abroad (Curvelo, Brazil). At the age of eight, Barça gave him a test and Miguel, today a great promise for Espanyol, arrived in Barcelona with his family almost ten years ago. Spanish nationality came to him this year shortly before the Algarve International Tournament, in which he made his debut with La Rojita, with whom he has already scored four goals. His future ahead seems immese.