International Career
Despite being born in England, Chopra is eligible to play for India through his father. In 2007, Zesh Rehman caused some controversy when in an interview with the British weekly newspaper the Eastern Eye he said that players of Asian descent should consider sticking to their roots rather than dreaming of playing for England. Rehman pointed to Michael Chopra, then with Cardiff City, who had been overlooked to play for England despite being the top scorer in the Championship, yet David Nugent, who was then at fellow Championship club Preston North End, was picked. Rehman claimed "Why wasn’t (Chopra) picked ahead of Dave Nugent? He’s the top goal scorer in the Championship but he can’t get in (the England set-up). So he needs to maybe look at his decision and go play for India instead of hanging on to the dream of playing for England, because it’s not going to happen, end of discussion."
In November 2010, Chopra entered into talks over acquiring an Indian passport in order to represent India in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Ultimately, he was not allowed to play in the tournament, but he hoped to play for India at a later date. He was named in the Indian squad that was to face Qatar in a friendly in July 2011. However, without an Indian passport he was not on the team, and the Indian's government refusal to change its stance on dual citizenship means Chopra will probably never don an India jersey.
Read more about this topic: Michael Chopra
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