Meet George Saunders, the only English footballer in South America who's trying to become a Colombian World Cup star
If all goes to plan London-born Saunders could find himself wearing the famed yellow of Colombia rather than the Three Lions of England in Russia next summer
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Your support makes all the difference.The 2018 World Cup will be targeted by a large number of English footballers in the coming months but one quest to reach the tournament in Russia will hog more than a few headlines if it becomes a reality.
London-born George Saunders is the only English professional currently playing domestic football in South America. If all goes to plan, though, Saunders could find himself wearing the famed yellow of Colombia rather than the Three Lions of England.
Speaking to the Independent from his home in Medellin, Colombia’s second city, the midfielder is preparing for another season with Envigado in the country’s Liga Aguila, a club which can boast of nurturing the talents of James Rodriguez among others.
In Colombian football, though, Envigado struggle to compete with the country’s big hitters, the likes of Medellin’s Atletico Nacional, the 2016 Copa Libertadores champions, and Bogota-based Santa Fe.
The country’s four foreigner rule mean that Saunders has previously been viewed an outsider-too-far for the top clubs in the Colombian top flight. But with a Colombian passport and dual-citizenship now in the offing, that could be about to change.
“My paperwork has been lodged and I’m hoping that by January I’ll have two passports,” he says. “I’ve had teams interested in me but because I’m a foreigner, and because of the rules here, clubs tend to sign strikers or number tens. They want players who can score goals, while I’m primarily a defensive midfielder.
“I’ve had a few offers and clubs here want me to get that passport so I have an option.
“You never know what’s around the corner but if I get the paperwork then there’s a good chance I’ll get a move to a big club. Then it’s like the Premier League, if you’re with a big club and playing well then there’s a possibility of a call-up (to the national side). If that happened it would be crazy but, in football, anything can happen.”
Saunders’ career is testimony to that, having taken in North London, the east coast of Spain and, for the past five years, Colombia. It’s a journey that has led to him having the broadest of outlooks on the global game.
It has also handed him the opportunity to witness the different approaches taken to bringing through young players across the world, making him well-placed to comment on what lies in store for England’s World Cup winning under-20 side when they come down from Cloud Nine and contemplate the realities of breaking into the starting line-up at a Premier League club.
“Envigado is widely seen as being one of the best academies in Colombian football - last season we had 15 under-20s that had come through the club’s own youth system,” he says.
“You’ve got far more opportunity here to break into the first team here than you do back home. You look at the Premier League and it’s full of foreigners. Clubs in England have so much money that they can just go out and buy players whenever they need to.
“It must be massively dispiriting being an 18, 19 or 20-year-old in England because you’re working to get into that first team and the chance to play with your idols. Then someone gets the old cheque book out and signs a player for massive money in your position. What can you do?
“If you’re a 20-year-old in Colombia, then the kids get even better treatment than the veterans in the side. They’re told to go out there and enjoy themselves and really express themselves. They get more of an opportunity but there’s no pressure put on them.
“That’s helping the Colombian national team as well because the Colombian League is getting better and better, it’s becoming really competitive as a result of these kids being given a chance. You only have to look at players like Wilmar Barrios and Jose Izquierdo to see how much talent there is in this country.”
Barrios and Izquierdo have now left Colombia, with the former now at Boca Juniors and his national team colleague playing in Belgium with Club Brugge but both have benefited from an approach that puts youth at the forefront of its football.
With Colombia second in South America’s race for 2018 World Cup qualification with only four matches remaining, there are clear signs that it’s working.
While their campaign continues, Saunders will hope that his passport for success awaits – and touches down in plenty of time for him to state his case for a place on the plane to Moscow.
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