Ex-Premier League and England star gets new international call-up at age of 38
Curtis Davies has fulfilled a career ambition by being called up to play for Sierra Leone.
Davies has made over 500 professional appearances for clubs including Birmingham, Aston Villa, West Brom, Hull and Derby and is now playing for Cheltenham Town in League One. The 38-year-old defender is in the twilight of his career and has decided to accept a call-up from Sierra Leone.
He earned three caps for England under-21s between 2006 and 2007 and was included in Fabio Capello’s first England squad in January 2008. Davies, who was born in London to an English mother and a Sierra Leonean father, was called up again by Capello later that year but never made his debut for England and has now decided to represent the country of his dad’s birth.
He wrote on Twitter : “I’m delighted to formally announce that I will be joining the Sierra Leone national team for their upcoming friendlies. I thought the opportunity to represent the country of my father’s birth had passed but I feel very proud and humbled to have received the call.
“It will be a proud moment for me to pull on the shirt of The Leone Stars and make my family in Sierra Leone proud but most of all my dad. He did everything in his power to give me the best chance to become a footballer, so I dedicate this all to him. Looking forward to getting going.”
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Davies will join up with the west African side for their friendlies against Benin and Somalia on Saturday and Sunday. Sierra Leone are coached by Amidu Karim and are currently 124th in the FIFA world rankings, between Malawi and Zimbabwe. They have not qualified for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, which will take place in Ivory Coast in January and February.
Davies has been open about his desire to play for Sierra Leone, if his ultimate goal of turning out for England never materialised. Speaking in 2014 amid speculation that he might play for Ireland due to an Irish-born grandparent, he explained that Sierra Leone were his second nation: “I've had contact with them before but before I retire, if I haven't managed to live my dream and play for England, then I'll definitely consider going over and playing for Sierra Leone.
Curtis Davies joined Cheltenham from Derby in the summer (Adam Fradgley/Getty Images)"I've got family over there. My grandad's still over there and my great uncle, people like that. If the African calendar was the same as the European calendar, it might have been an easier decision for me. I might have given up on England earlier, but I feel like I'm so close, but not close enough at the moment.
"I need unfortunate luck for someone else to get my luck. If I'm fifth or sixth choice for England, I don't know, so I'd need some very good luck to get in there."
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