Ned considers Super Eagles

Manchester City's representation at the World Cup might increase by one, with news today that Nedum Onuoha is considering playing for the country of his birth in South Africa:

"I'd like to play in the remaining six games for City, and if I did that maybe the chance would be there to play for Nigeria," said Onuoha.

"But if I am not playing week in, week out, I wouldn't expect to receive a call from anyone, because it wouldn't be right.

"Everyone wants to play in the World Cup, but things have to be right and you have to be selected. A lot of people are talking about it as though it is an option, but I have never been called up, so it's not something I can really talk about."

Nedum has had a successful spell in the England U-21s, winning 21 caps and captaining the side a few times. But he's very unlikely to make the senior squad any time soon. We already know, from Fabio Capello's selections, that he is behind John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka, Matthew Upson, Wes Brown, Gary Cahill and Ryan Shawcross in the pecking order. We can presume that Michael Dawson and Roger Johnson, both of whom have had excellent seasons, are ahead of him too. So the chances of Onuoha winning full international honours with England are slim, and the attraction of playing in a World Cup must be strong.

In one sense this is disappointing - Onuoha's playing for England is an ambition unfulfilled and now probably abandoned. I fear he will have to make a similar decision about his future at Manchester City this summer; despite Saturday's start he seems to be drifting down the pecking order rather than coming up. But to have not just Manchester City players, but Manchester City academy players featuring in South Africa - alongside Vladimir Weiss, Dickson Etuhu and quite possibly Shaun Wright-Phillips - is something to be proud about.