Arsenal academy star Marcelo Flores has confirmed that he will play for Mexico at international level. The youngster is also eligible to play for either Canada, the country of his birth, or England, where he's lived for several years, but has decided to play for the South American nation.
Flores qualifies to play for them through his father, who was born there. The 18-year-old, who has impressed at youth level recently and earned a place in Mikel Arteta's selection thoughts, recently spoke to football.london in an exclusive interview, where he hinted that he'd like to play at this year's World Cup in Qatar.
"I've been saying it for a while now that before I'm 19 I want to be a professional player, be it here (at Arsenal) or somewhere else, either out on loan or permanently," he said. "I want to get to the World Cup before my 19th birthday. My birthday is in October, so the World Cup will be the month after that, so I want to be involved in the World Cup squad and get my debut with Arsenal before then."
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Now he's made the big decision on his future after he confirmed in a heartfelt statement that he'd like to play for Mexico moving forward.
Although he thanked both Canada and England for the part the two nations have played in his life so far, he confirmed that he's ready to play for Mexico for the rest of his professional career: "I have questioned many things during this process. How much Spanish do I have to know to represent Mexico? How many years of my life will I have to live in Mexico moving forward to not feel guilty for representing a country where I have not had the opportunity to live? Is it enough to listen to rancheras with my sisters in England? Does saying YES to a country mean that I can no longer love the other two countries that have given me so much?
"I've been thinking about these questions for a while. I'll probably never be able to fully answer them. And although I have not been able to discover the answers, I do know this: being different does not make me less Mexican.
"Today I speak from the heart and feel the need to communicate something I've known to be true for a while that I think is important you hear directly from me: I will represent Mexico wholeheartedly for the rest of my professional life."
Flores, who has already played in a friendly for Mexico against Guatemala in April, then added: "So, what's next? For my part, I plan to continue training as I always have. I am aware that my career is just beginning, and I have a lot of work ahead of me. Do I want to go to the upcoming World Cup? Sure, every Mexican child dreams of playing in a World Cup. But I recognise, that decision is not for me to make. I will focus on getting better every day and being ready for when those opportunities come around."
