England U-21 and Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte has said he will turn down the invitation from Warriors coach Leo Beenhakker to go to the World Cup Finals with Trinidad and Tobago in order to concentrate on graduating to the senior England squad.
Warriors coach Leo Beenhakker revealed last week that Hoyte, who is on a season-long loan at fellow Premiership rivals, Sunderland, was one of a list of English-born players with family links to Trinidad that he wants to make the move to Trinidad and Tobago?s national team for the finals in Germany.T&T have been drawn in World Cup Group B along with England, Paraguay and Sweden, and Hoyte?s participation for T&T in Germany would have meant the possibility that Hoyte could have found himself playing against the country of his birth this summer.
But Hoyte, who has been capped seven times by England at Under-21 level, has said he will decline any advances made by Beenhakker because he feels that he would prefer to keep on pushing for an England Senior team call-up.
Hoyte said: ?I've read about Trinidad and Tobago looking into the possibility of calling up several players in the Premiership, including myself.
?It's flattering, of course, and the chance of playing in a World Cup would be great. But for the moment I plan to concentrate purely on my England career and I'm hoping that one day I'll be playing for England in a World Cup.
?I've played for England at Under-17, 18, 19 and Under-21 levels and I've still got ambitions to play in the senior squad.
?That has been my dream since I was a youngster and I'm not giving up on that.
?I'm still young, just 22, and one day I'm hoping to be good enough to play for England and pull on the three lions shirt at the ultimate level.?
Beenhakker has already convinced Fulham goalkeeper Tony Warner to represent T&T?s Warriors, and the Dutchman also intends to try to approach Aston Villa's J Lloyd Samuel and West Ham's Bobby Zamora.
According to FIFA rules, players can switch which national team even after representing one country at Under-21 level, but even had Hoyte chosen to join Trinidad & Tobago, the TTFF would still have had to convince FIFA to make an exception to the rules for Hoyte could play for the Caribbean nation.
Under the current FIFA regulations, players must switch nation?s before they reach 21 - and Justin Hoyte was 22 back in November.
Beenhakker had intended to appeal to FIFA to sway the rules on the age issue but after Hoyte?s comments that is now irrelevant.
