Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose has revealed he could’ve turned out for Jamaica instead of England had he not made the Euro 2016 squad.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Rose made his Three Lions debut in March of that year before being picked to feature in France by Roy Hodgson.
The 28-year-old has been a consistent performer in North London since making his first-team debut around the 2011/2012 seasons.
The left-back has made 19 Premier League appearances this campaign as he faces competition from Welsh international Ben Davies.
The issue of dual nationality has come to the fore recently after West Ham United’s Declan Rice opted to change his international allegiance to England despite featuring for the Republic of Ireland in friendly matches.
He has since been called up by manager Gareth Southgate for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.
Before his first England call-up, Rose said he had considered representing Jamaica, who he qualifies for as both sets of his grandparents are from there.
The ex-Leeds United man explained:
I could have played for Jamaica. Both sets of grandparents are Jamaican, it was only a conversation really. Yes, I did think about it because obviously at one point I didn’t think I would get a chance to play for England. I wasn’t involved until I was 26 and for me, that was a bit late because I had been playing regularly since I was 21. There was a point where I didn’t think I was going to play for England. It was only a conversation, there was no deep thought in it – had I not gone to the Euros that year then I don’t know, it might have been different.
He has since gone on to earn 25 caps for his country and represented them at last year’s World Cup in Russia.
