Adrien Silva - International Career

International Career

Though born in France, Silva elected to represent Portugal at international level. He has represented his nation at every youth level for which he was eligible. At under-16 level, Silva played with the team at the Tournio du Val-de-Marne (English: Val-de-Marne Tournament) appearing in all three group stage matches the team contested. After he was found to have done unauthorized training with English club Chelsea, Silva was suspended from the under-16 team by the Portuguese Football Federation. He returned to international debut at under-17 level as the team attempted to qualify for the 2007 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. Silva was a regular in the team appearing in 17 matches. Portugal, however, failed to qualify for the UEFA-sanctioned tournament after suffering elimination in the Elite Round.

During the 2006–07 season, Silva played with the under-18 team making two appearances. On 30 January 2007, it was announced by the Portuguese Football Federation that Silva would be participating in the 2007 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup as the nation's only player representative. The player declared that he was "very proud to represent Portugal in a European selection", however, prior to the start of the competition, Silva suffered an injury while playing domestically. As a result, his spot in the European selection was given to countryman Romeu Ribeiro.

At under-19 level, due to his increased participation with the Sporting first team domestically, Silva was limited to only seven appearances. He scored his first goal at international level on 6 November 2007 in first round qualification for the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship against the Republic of Ireland. Portugal won the match 2–1, but failed to progress past the Elite Round, which eliminated the team from the competition.

On 5 February 2009, Silva earned his first call up to the under-21 team under coach Rui Caçador to participate in a friendly match against Switzerland that was played on 10 February. He started the match and played 78 minutes before being substituted out in a 3–1 win. Silva was a regular participant in the team in qualification for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He appeared in five of the team's nine group stage qualification matches. Silva scored his only under-21 goal in a 1–1 draw with group opponents Macedonia. His under-21 career came to an end following the team's failure to qualify for the 2011 tournament.