Venlo is a small city in the south of Holland, located pretty much right beside the German border. It’s most famous export are the local football club, VVV Venlo, who ply their trade in Holland’s top tier of football, the Eredivise.
Frankly, they’re lucky to be in the Eredivisie, having narrowly missed out on relegation for a couple of seasons now. But they do possess two individuals that may be of interest to fans of both the Republic and Northern Ireland – a Japanese striker and a Dutch midfielder with the most interesting of names.
Barry Maguire is a 23-year old midfielder and previously represented Ireland and Holland at youth levels. The former-Utrecht star, born of an Irish father and a Dutch mother in Tiel, is still open to offers from the FAI. Trap and Tardelli know about Maguire, but perhaps it’s Venlo’s dire performances as of late that prevent him from getting that much-awaited call-up.
“If Ireland rang me in the morning and asked me to play for them, I would say yes without a thought. I would like to play for the Irish team again but I have no contact at all from them,” Maguire has said.
At just 23, he’s worth a punt. He’s not having the best of seasons, but only a few years back, clubs such as Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven came chasing after the youngster. What is that old saying about how form is temporary, class is permanent?
If you look closely at the list of players at VVV Venlo presently, you’ll notice another name that will raise an eyebrow. A former Japanese youth international named Robert Cullen. That’s right.
Cullen – known by fans and fellow professionals as simply Bobby – was born in Tsuchiura, about 60 km north of Tokyo in 1985, the son of a Japanese mother and Northern Irish father. Having spent six years at Jubilo Iwata in Japan’s J-League, a short stint with second-tier Roasso Kumamoto, Cullen joined Dutch side Venlo in 2011. A classic striker, he wears the no. 10 jersey.
Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill had previously kept Cullen in mind when making selections. Still to wear the green jersey of “our wee country”, Cullen is certainly a player O’Neill and fans wouldn’t mind seeing in Windsor Park in the near future. Though because Japan does not allow dual nationality, losing his Japanese citizenship might be too big of a gamble for Cullen to take. Watch this space.
It goes to show that there are plenty of decent players eligible for both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to have a look at, maybe even take a chance. If we never took chances, we’d never find people such as third-division star Mark Lawrenson or Oxford United duo John Aldridge and Ray Houghton. Some of these players are closer than we think. Some much further away (see Brazilian Adolfo Rosinei and Japanese under-19′s star Colin Killoran for example).
Oh, why couldn’t Messi’s granny hail from Castlebar or if Zidane’s parents came from Abbeyleix instead of Algeria?
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