Portuguese Football Federation Fabio Carvalho told them that he did not wish to represent his country of origin in any more matches at the under-21 level.
Carvalho was included in the upcoming Portugal U-21 squad against the Czech Republic and Japan, and in this regard, the Liverpool player announced that he did not wish to play more international matches for Portugal at this level.
“Fabio Carvalho has informed the Portuguese Football Federation in text messages that he no longer wishes to represent Portugal at the under-21 level. The player’s decision came after announcing the withdrawal in preparation for the matches against the Czech Republic and Japan.”
Portugal U-21 will play the Czech Republic next Friday and will play Japan on Tuesday in a week’s time.
Carvalho still has the option to choose the England national football team instead of the Portugal national football team. He represented England at U-16, U-17 and U-18 levels, before moving to Portugal in March this year. Since then, he has played four matches for the Portugal U21 national team, contributing two goals and two assists in those matches.
Didn’t make a WC band
The Liverpool player was named in Fernando Santos’ provisional World Cup squad when it was presented in October, but did not feature in Portugal’s final 26-man World Cup squad.
There appears to be a tug-of-war between England and Portugal for the player, so it will be interesting to see if Carvalho is selected to represent the England Under-21s in the near future. A national team of club mates Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Tyler Morton have had caps in the past year.
Carvalho has made 16 appearances for Liverpool since joining from Fulham in the summer, scoring the winning goal in extra time in a thrilling league match against Newcastle in August. In total, there were two goals in six matches from the start and ten substitutions from the bench for the Reds. Both goals were scored in Premier League matches. In the Premier League, he made four appearances and made seven appearances from the bench.
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