“Sven Inquired About My Interest in Playing for England – I Was Honored, Yet Doubt Their Desire for a Foreign Player” – Former Premier League Star Discusses Nationality Conversion Talks

Sven-Goran Eriksson faced a goalkeeper dilemma during his tenure as England manager in the 2000s, and it has recently come to light that he sought to persuade one Premier League star to switch his nationality.

After the 2002 World Cup, following David Seaman’s retirement from international play and that memorable free-kick from Ronaldinho, Eriksson had David James and Paul Robinson competing for the top goalkeeper position. However, eager to recruit the finest talent, the Swede reached out to Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini to discuss the possibility of him committing to England.

Cudicini, who was named Premiership Goalkeeper of the Year in 2002/03, struggled to even secure a place in the Italy squad, let alone as the first choice. With Gianluigi Buffon as the starter and competitors like Francesco Toldo and Christian Abbiati, Cudicini did not make a senior appearance for the Azzurri.

England wanted Carlo Cudicini to become the goalkeeper

After spending five years in England since joining Chelsea in 1999, the FA determined that Cudicini was now eligible to play for the Three Lions. Sven reached out to him.

“We had a conversation where he asked if I’d consider playing for England,” Cudicini recalls in FourFourTwo.

“It was a great honour, because England are one of the big footballing countries. It didn’t happen for different reasons, but coming from Italy – also such a big footballing country – I didn’t feel it was right, and I think there was a sentiment on the other side that they didn’t want a foreign player in the national team.”

“So, it was just for a moment, but even to be considered made me very proud.”

Despite the conversations and considerations, Cudicini would not have been eligible to play for England. At that time, FIFA ruled that Cudicini needed to have held a British passport when he represented Italy at the U16 Euros in the early 1990s and must have also received five years of education in the UK prior to turning 18.

Since he did not fulfill either of those criteria, the Italian goalkeeper would not have been able to play for England under Eriksson.