Eric Dier has assured that he is content with choosing England as his national team over European Champions Portugal. The two nations had contrasting fortunes in this summer's tournament as England were knocked out by underdogs Iceland in the first knockout game, compared to the Portuguese who won the whole thing.
The midfielder received his first call up to the England squad over a year ago as the Three Lions faced France and Spain in pre-Euro 2016 friendlies. Since then he has not been overlooked.
However, Dier had the opportunity to play for the eventual winners of the tournament. At the age of seven the Englishman moved to Portugal with his family and was spotted by scouts from Sporting Lisbon, the club Tottenham Hotspur eventually signed him from. Dier learnt the trade in Portugal and has previously commented that he is essentially a foreign player, but has not let this idea stand in the way of his patriotism for England.
I’m English
As England prepare to host Spain, the return fixture that Dier made his debut in, in a friendly on Tuesday, Eric Dier remained sure that he made the right choice in choosing England.
Dier explained that, “When I was younger they [the Portuguese national team] had spoken to Sporting about it, but nothing really came of it” before joking that “It’s a bit late to turn around now!” Dier went on to explain that he only see’s himself as “100 per cent English” and has “never said the opposite” but he does view “Portugal as my home”.
The midfielder also added that “In Portugal it happens that a lot of Brazilians play for Portugal and they’re not Portuguese” and when he was younger he “wasn’t a big fan of that” idea. However, a lot of Dier’s former teammates were part of the team that won the Euros and so he admitted that he was “happy for them” and “if England can’t win anything then [he] wants Portugal to win”.