‘I never said I wanted to play for Spain,’ says Belgium World Cup call-up Matías Fernández-Pardo

Lille breakthrough Matías Fernández-Pardo sparked rumors after his roots in Spain made him a possible option for Luis de la Fuente, before Rudi Garcia called him up for Belgium to be part of the World Cup squad. The player explained his position in an interview with RTBF.

Fernández-Pardo said: “I think the decision would have been the same if I had had the conversation earlier and not just a few weeks before the World Cup. You have to think long term. I never said I wanted to play for Spain and, if it was understood that way, my words were distorted. The national team coach understood my story well.”

A trend that has been growing in recent years is players representing countries they were not born in because of their roots. In this case, Fernández-Pardo could have played for Spain or even Argentina, but he chose Belgium.

García’s role

Representing a country often means a great deal to players. In this case, Fernández-Pardo’s final decision was to wear Belgium’s colors.

That was heavily influenced by the conversations he had with Garcia, who helped convince the young player to represent Belgium and later included him in the 26-man squad.

Fernández-Pardo said: “What triggered everything was my conversation with Vincent Mannaert (sporting director of Belgium) and Garcia. They convinced me: my mentality is more Belgian than Spanish. And I went through all the youth levels with Belgium. After that conversation it became clear, I said yes immediately and chose Belgium.”

Fernández-Pardo’s season with Lille

While he may not be one of the most famous names, his potential could soon take him to a bigger club. Fernández-Pardo has just completed a breakout season with Lille at only 21 years old, helping the club finish third in Ligue 1. The versatile attacking player scored eight goals and added five assists in 2,390 minutes.