Wilfried Zaha quits England to play for Cote d'Ivoire
Wilfried Zaha has committed his international future to Ivory Coast – despite playing twice for England.
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The Crystal Palace winger will now make his debut for The Elephants at the African Cup of Nations in Gabon and could miss a month of Eagles action.
Zaha, 24, was born in Ivorian capital Abidjan but moved to England aged four.
He then made his Three Lions bow in Sweden in 2012 before playing against Scotland a year later.
But because both matches were friendlies, even though he played 13 times for the under-21s, he still qualified for Ivory Coast because he holds a passport.
Zaha is now set to make his debut against Togo on January 16, before facing DR Congo and Morocco in other group stage matches.
He could link up with Prem stars Wilfried Bony, Lamine Kone, Max Gradel as well as Aston Villa striker Jonathan Kodjia and former Chelsea forward Saloman Kalou.
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew recently suggested Zaha was close to an England call up, revealing he had spoken to the Three Lions chief Southgate – a former Palace team-mate – about Zaha.
Pardew said: “Obviously I know Gareth well, so we have had conversations about players and Wilf has come up, yes.
“The quality of the England team is such that it’s difficult to break into that starting eleven, but Andros is pretty close, and I think Wilf Zaha is close as well.
“I think Zaha is playing some of his best football since he came back to the football club.”