England’s Gordon: ‘Never a thought’ to play for Scotland\u060c<\/p>\n
Anthony Gordon has insisted \u201cit was never an idea\u201d to play for Scotland after taking a step closer to realizing his dream of representing England.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old last week earned his first call-up to Gareth Southgate's senior squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium later this month.<\/p>\n
Gordon has Scottish paternal grandparents and the north of the border was keen to convince him to switch allegiances after playing for England at Under-18, Under-19, Under-20 and England levels. under 21 years old.<\/p>\n
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)<\/strong><\/p>\n But the Newcastle winger said: “It was never a thought of mine. It's not a disrespect to Scotland, that's all. I have a tunnel vision about playing for England since the age of five or six.<\/p>\n “Nothing could ever get rid of it. I could never forgive myself if it hadn't come to this. Like I said, it's just a dream I've had since I was so young, so nothing 'other never occurred to me. time.'<\/p>\n Further explaining his love affair with England, Gordon continued: “I think I always wanted to be at the top of football<\/a>. I think that's the dream of every kid who loves football. I think as a young Englishman this is the pinnacle to playing for your country so it's not extra motivation or a great story but just that.<\/p>\n “The tournament that sticks in my mind is the one where [Daniel] Sturridge scored against Wales [in Euro 2016]. It was actually a little late [in my memory], but that's when I grew up and really got interested in football and I remember that goal for some reason. I celebrated like crazy.<\/p>\n “In my opinion, [the players I looked at] was always [Wayne] Rooney and [Steven] Gerrard because they came from similar areas. I always used to run around the garden from a very young age and try to recreate goals, create my own types of goals. I admired them enormously.”<\/p>\n Gordon was named Player of the Tournament as England beat Spain to win<\/a> the European Under-21 Championship.<\/p>\n