What is the need for recognition to serve the country? Take Aymeric Laporte for example

In the round of 16 of the European Cup of Nations, Spain and France played on the same day, but their fates were different. Spain fought hard to beat Croatia to advance, while France was eliminated by Switzerland. French-born Manchester City stalwart Aymeric Laporte's decision to play for Spain seems more like the right decision.

From the U17 to the U21 national team, La Pudi is a small French international. In recent years, French head coach Digans has called him up several times, but he has never been dispatched. As a result, Lapudi applied for Spanish citizenship this year. After being issued a passport, he became a Spain international.

Lapudi can have Spanish nationality, mainly because he has lived in Spain for a long time. In 2010, the year Lapudi was 16, he joined Bilbao. It was not until 2018 that he moved from Bilbao to Manchester City. Bilbao has always only used Basque players, so why can Lapudi join? In fact, what constitutes a "Basque" player is not precisely defined in Bilbao's policy. But generally speaking, anyone born and raised in the Basque Country (including the Basque Country in France) can become a Bilbao player. But can those of Basque descent who were not born and raised in the Basque Country sign up for the Bilbao? That's the problem. It turns out that the former Uruguay striker Colan, the former Argentine striker Siguen, and Real Madrid's Acincio all have Basque "bloods", and it is rumored that Bilbao once expressed interest in these three players, but they were all regarded as Violating the policy of using only Basques and not referring them.

Lapudi's birthplace was Agen, in southwestern France. Although the place is not far from the French Basque Country, it is really outside the Basque Country. Lapudi is considered a qualified Basque in Bilbao because his great-grandparents were Basque. But since he was neither born nor raised in the Basque Country, Lapudi's joining the Bilbao is a special case.

Interestingly, Rapudi only played for Bilbao, a team that exalted Basque nationalism in Spain. We certainly have no way of knowing what Lapudi's own feelings and identities are. But the chances of playing for Bilbao for a long time and developing an identity with the Basque community should be much higher than the chances of identity with Spain. Lapudi's decision to naturalize in Spain should be a business consideration and has little to do with national/ethnic identity. Always, even though the level of the Champions League is higher than that of international competitions, participation in international competitions is still an important item on the resumes of top men's professional football players.

International footballers from different places will say that it is an honor to play for the national team. But what Lapudi's example might reflect is that the real honor is not to serve the country, but to create more achievements in one's own profession.

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