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Aymeric Laporte spoke about his decision to switch national team allegiances.
Al-Nassr defender Aymeric Laporte has opened up on his decision to switch allegiance from France to the Spanish national team.
The 30-year-old defender is a French national, born in France and represented the national team across various age grades, but the Les Bleus senior team call-up eluded him.
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'Nobody is bigger than France' — FFF president addresses Mbappe's omission from Deschamps squad
The FFF president addressed the recent controversy surrounding Kylian Mbappe's omission from Didier Deschamps squad for this international break.
Despite being French, he joined the Athletic Club as a teenager, a club famous for only signing Basque players. He gained eligibility through his great-grandparents, who were Basque, and by extension, was eligible to play for the Spanish national team.
The Spanish Council of Ministers granted Laporte citizenship in 2021 following a process initiated by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and has played for La Roja since, registering 37 caps and winning both the Euros and Nations League trophies.
What Laporte said
Didier Deschamps was intensely pressured to call up Laporte before his switch to Spain, but the former Marseille man remained adamant. Years later, the Al-Nassr man now reveals that he did not have a great relationship with the coach.
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“I couldn’t wait any longer,” Laporte said, per Marca “Years went by; in the end, it was always the same with the coach. If I wanted to play in international competitions, I had to make this decision.
“I’m doing very well with the national team. There were some exchanges of opinion on several occasions (with Deschamps); our relationship was not the best. It’s over; I don’t even think about it anymore. Everyone goes their own way.”
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