For a lot of players, being called up for your national team, whether it is with the younger age groups or with the first-team, is an honour.
Representing your country on a football pitch has always been seen by many as the pinnacle of their career, trophies aside, yet some younger footballers would rather skip steps, and see playing for the U21s as a waste of time.
One of those appears to be Chelsea’s Charly Musonda Jr., who rejected the opportunity presented to him by Johan Walem to represent Belgium’s U21s.
This, of course, didn’t go down very well within the Belgium national team, with Eden Hazard even going out of his way to criticise the young forward, reminding him that it’s part of the process of becoming a better player, which would give him even more chance of breaking through at Stamford Bridge.
He said: “Johan (Walem) has one of the most complicated jobs in football: to manage to involve U21s who are very talented and who, sometimes, feel that going there is rewarding. That’s the truth. This are players that are important in their club, and whose next goal is to be part of the national team.
“It’s our role, and I include myself here, to let them know how important it is for these young players to go with the U21s and win games.”
Charly Musonda could really do with doing all the right things to impress Chelsea, Belgium, and anyone else interested. Unnecessary problems and controversies aren’t a part of that.
