As the only outfield player, the comparatively experienced Jean-Manuel Mbom remained without an appearance in the two European Championship qualifying matches of the German U 21s. Surprising. Coach Stefan Kuntz did not want to reveal that in the background it is apparently about a possible change of association.
When U-21 national coach Stefan Kuntz was asked by kicker after the 3-1 win in Latvia about Mbom’s twice-bench place, he initially left room for speculation: “He didn’t feel up to it”. When asked again, the 58-year-old explained: “It was a joint agreement that we would not play.
The fact that Mbom was the only outfield player not to get any playing time was somewhat surprising, given that Kuntz had already invited the Bremen player to play for the U21s several times last cycle and had used him in two matches. In addition, the midfielder already has the experience of 21 Bundesliga games, a number not matched by many of his current team-mates.
Changed FIFA rule – see Borna Sosa
In any case, an injury did not play a role in the decision, but rather, according to kicker information, a change in FIFA rules, which has also caused other players to wonder or cause turmoil, for example in the case of Borna Sosa. The Croatian professional of VfB Stuttgart wanted to play for Germany after his naturalisation, but was already 22 years old when he played his last competitive match for Croatia’s U21s at the end of November 2020.
Since September 2020, FIFA regulations state under “III Eligibility to play for association teams, Article 9, point 2 b” that a request for a change of association is only granted under the following conditions: “The player was not yet 21 years old at the time of his last appearance in a match in an official competition of any football division for his current association.” In the past, players were allowed to change associations regardless of their age as long as they had not yet played a mandatory international match for a senior national team. Hoffenheim’s Kevin Akpoguma, for example, made his debut for Nigeria’s senior team at the age of 25, having been over 21 in his last competitive appearance for Germany U21s in October 2016.
Mbom’s move to Cameroon is in the offing
Because of his father’s Cameroonian origin, Mbom apparently wants to keep his right to play for the senior national team of the West African country open. The only annoyance for the DFB is that the Werder professional, who has been 21 since 24 February 2021, apparently only became aware of this during the latest international training course.
A similar case has already occurred recently with Stuttgart’s Mateo Klimowicz, who was European champion with the DFB U-21 in June, but since his 21st birthday on 6 July has decided to forgo appearances until he has made a fundamental decision between Argentina and Germany. Unlike Mbom, the offensive player had told the DFB officials this before being nominated.
The ball is now in the DFB’s court
At the start of the current course, Kuntz said: “I didn’t think the old arrangement was bad because you could complete a cycle with the U21s, but you have to judge that on a case-by-case basis. Klimowicz would probably have made six more internationals this year, which would certainly have done him good.”
It will be interesting to see how the DFB deals with Mbom, if and when the Bremen professional will play for a national team again and which association logo will then adorn his jersey.
