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Wilfried Zaha's representative rejects England 'egg timer' comment

Wilfried Zaha's representative has dismissed England boss Gareth Southgate's claim there was "a disappearing egg timer on him going to the Ivory Coast." 

Crystal Palace winger Zaha, 24, made two friendly appearances for England in 2012 and 2013 before switching allegiance to Ivory Coast, the country of his birth, in time for January's African Nations Cup.

Southgate was made caretaker England manager in September but said Zaha had "already made his mind up to go across to the Ivory Coast" by the time he was given the job permanently in November.

Some newspapers interpreted Southgate's comments as a suggestion that Zaha had lacked the passion to play for England, but a statement issued to The Guardian by the player's representative, Will Salthouse of Unique Sports Management, stressed that was not the case.

"In light of recent comments and reports questioning Wilfried's desire or passion to play for England I feel it's important to set the record straight," the statement read. "Wilfried did not impose a timescale or set a date by which he had to be selected by England, there was no 'disappearing egg timer'. The 'private' meeting with Mr Southgate was very amicable.

"However the fact remains that Wilfried made his decision to play for the Ivory Coast prior to Mr Southgate being appointed interim and subsequently permanent England manager. It was Wilfried's personal choice and it was his right as a senior player to accept the opportunity to represent his nation of birth and that of his family heritage.

"His 'desire' or 'passion' should never have been publicly questioned for making that decision. Wilfried is very proud of his family and very proud to represent the Ivory Coast, most recently demonstrated by his performance against Russia." 

However, Palace chairman Steve Parish -- who had questioned on Twitter why Zaha was not in the England setup after his goal against Russia -- has suggested that the former Manchester United man had been keen to continue to play for the Three Lions.

He said in The Times: "The whole England setup gave Wilfried no love and it is a shame that we lost him. Wilfried was waiting and waiting for that call. You don't play at all those levels for England and then decide you want to play for the Ivory Coast. The love that they [Ivory Coast] gave him and the way that they courted him would have been what Jack Charlton did for Ireland [when the former manager recruited English-born players who were Ireland qualified].

"It is devastating for us as we always thought we would see him in an England shirt. We need to learn our lessons. We need to capture all the talent we can and give it some love. You would not see Brazil let a player like that go."

He said the FA misses out on players because it does not "talk to people that come to Palace games" and prefers to "talk to people who go to Manchester United and Arsenal games."

He also cited the example of Chelsea's Victor Moses -- who switched allegiance to Nigeria in 2011, when he was playing for Wigan -- and said: "There has been a whole litany of issues going back through the years with Wilfried and Victor."

Moses, who was born in Nigeria, had played for England at youth level while at Palace.

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