age of six. But Guinea-Bissau is a former
Portuguese colony and his father, Bori,
originally emigrated to Portugal after
leaving Bissau before the family moved
on to Spain.
“My dream was to see my son playing
for Portugal and I think that was also his
dream, but now it is difficult,” Bori told
Portuguese daily A Bola. “Some time
ago I spoke with a director from the
Portuguese Football Federation. The
conversation was positive and we agreed
to talk the following day but that person
hasn’t called me back.
“Then, with these matches that he
played, the pressure from Spain grew
very strong and I’ve been contacted by
the president of the Spanish federation.”
Bori claims Bissau-born Benfica player
Umaro Embalo could help convince his
son to play for Portugal.
“He feels Portuguese and so do I,”
added Bori. “And it would be easy for him
to play for Portugal. It would be enough
for Umaro Embalo, the Benfica player,
to convince him. He is a great friend
and speaks every day with Ansu.
“Everything is in the hands of Ansu,
he will take a decision now.”
The situation is further complicated
by Barca’s opposition to Fati being called
up for the under-17 tournament and
Valverde is cautious about such a move,
saying: “He’s still not been called up so
we will see what happens. But it would
be a setback because he’s a player who’s
just coming into the first team and we
don’t know what will happen in that run
of games. If it would have been now, with
players missing, it would be a bigger
setback. But we’re going to be cautious
until the final squad is announced.”
Spain have until October 16 to name
their squad for the tournament which
kicks off on October 26, with the Final
taking place on November 17.
John HolmesdaleValverde, who is under pressure after
some poor results, now looks set to
keep him in the senior squad.
According to Sport newspaper, Fati
was on the list of 50 players delivered to
FIFA by Spain coach David Gordo ahead
of the Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.
Fati is now eligible to play for Spain
after the process to give him a Spanish
passport was fast-tracked
“Ansu has the possibility of
representing another national team but
he has chosen Spain,” Gordo said. “We
are doing everything possible for that to
happen and we are eager to have him
available as soon as possible.
“The federation has been working for
a while on having Ansu play at the World
Cup. Although I have not spoken to him
personally, because he is not a player we
can select yet, I am told he really wants
to play for Spain and go with his Barca
team-mates to the national team.
“We have followed him in recent
seasons. We like him. His profile fits in
perfectly with the Spanish national team.”
However, a complication is that
Portugal may yet have a say in his future.
Fati was born in Guinea-Bissau before
moving to Herrera, near Seville, at the
In demand...the
youngster has
already attracted
a lot of attentionRegistration...Ansu Fati’s federation card
for the 2009-10 season“There’s no denying Ansu is a player
who has something special”
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde
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