Aston Villa defender Matty Cash will be eligible to play his international football for Poland after receiving a Polish passport, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
The 24-year-old right-back was born in Slough and has played in England throughout his professional career, but is eligible to represent Poland at international level through his mother.
Matty Cash Able to Represent Poland After Receiving Passport
Defender Applied For Citizenship at the Start of the Season
Former Dagenham and Redbridge defender Cash joined Aston Villa from Nottingham Forest in a £16 million deal last September. Since then, he has established himself as a regular in the Premier League club’s back line, and has started each of their top-flight matches this season.
Cash also managed to score his first Villa goal in a 3-0 victory over Everton in September. Currently, Dean Smith’s side sits in thirteenth place in the league, with a home fixture against high-flying West Ham United to come.
The question of why Cash has elected to switch allegiences to Poland at this stage of his career has been asked in some quarters. However, England manager Gareth Southgate has an abundance of high-class options to choose from in the right-back position, meaning achieving any game time for his country of birth would represent a tall order for the Aston Villa man.
Cash has aspirations of playing in a World Cup, and the 2022 edition being held in Qatar next winter is now only 13 months away.
Cash Could Make Poland Debut in the Upcoming International Break
Upon filing his paperwork to apply for Polish citizenship, Cash was hopeful of the process being completed in time for him to link up with the Poland squad during November’s international break.
Ideally, the defender would like the chance to break into the Polish team before the end of World Cup qualifying. He could now be in line to do that in mid-November, when Paulo Sousa’s side take on Andorra and Hungary.
In their qualifying group, Poland currently trail first-placed England by four points with two games left to play, meaning a playoff spot is currently on the cards for them.
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