HE PLAYED FOR WHO?!

Capped by Austria Under-20s, Ashley Barnes isn’t the only born-and-bred Englishman to have received a call-up for a seemingly unlikely nation

CARL JENKINSON

The former Arsenal defender played for England U17s, then Finland U19s and U21s, before turning out for England U21s and finally becoming a one-cap wonder at senior level – on the pitch to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic score his famous overhead kick for Sweden in November 2012.

AARON WAN-BISSAKA

Manchester United’s right-back got his first call-up to England’s senior squad recently, but he started his international career playing against England – for DR Congo U20s. The Londoner was on the receiving end of an 8-0 shellacking, so we can see why he was tempted to switch.

CHRIS BIRCHALL

Port Vale could have had two entries in this list: Robbie Earle famously played for Jamaica at the 1998 World Cup, before fellow Staffordshire boy Birchall did the same for Trinidad and Tobago eight years later. Unlike Earle, Birchall did it while still playing for the mighty Valiants.

NEIL ETHERIDGE

Born in north London, Cardiff’s goalkeeper played for England at schoolboy level, but his mum hails from Tarlac, a province of the Philippines. Since 2008, he’s won more than 60 caps for the Azkals and starred in a Filipino ad as an underwear model. He never got that back in Enfield...

DOM DWYER

After growing up in East Anglia, foot injuries ruined his hopes of making it at Norwich, so Dwyer took a scholarship with a US high school, progressed to MLS, then applied for a green card. A USA call-up followed, and he scored in each of his first two caps. Truly the American dream.