Mikel Arteta's international dream is dead

Mikel Arteta's international dream is dead
Over the last decade or so England have failed to perform to their expectations. However most people can say that, that has always been the case with the team. On paper England have one of the best line ups that a team could ask for, but when the same team takes the field, disaster strikes.
The one link in the team that can be held responsible for this end result, is the lack of midfield coordination and inspiration that a team requires to go all the way. England have two of the best midfielders in the world at the moment, namely Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Both the players have proven their worth over the past and have shown just why they are considered to be the best at what they do.
However despite that fact, the two cannot seem to get along in the midfield for England. This has led Fabio Capello to make one of the toughest decisions of his life, the manager doesn’t know if he should let one of the players leave the team. Even though it might appear that Gerrard would be the better choice of the two to keep in the squad, statistically however if the players stats are compared over the last couple of seasons the better player to keep would be Frank Lampard, who has scored over twenty goals in almost every season that he has played for Chelsea.
Apart from that Capello was believed to have turned to the Spanish born Mikel Arteta, to help strengthen the side. This is because Arteta has spent more than five years in England and is eligible to receiving and English nationality.
This move seemed to be shaping up rather nicely, however FIFA issued some new rules have shattered the players dreams of ever appearing for the English side.
"Article 18.1.a within the Fifa statutes outlines that any player who has represented their country in an official competition, at whatever level, would at that time need to have held a passport for the country they later wish to play for in order to be permitted to make the switch."
Arteta played for Spain in the Under-16 European Championships and then in the FIFA World Championships at Under-17 level.
"However, because Arteta has played for Spain at junior level, he would have had to have held a British passport at the same time in order to be eligible. Our understanding is that he is ineligible to play,” Is what the football association has said in response to this article that FIFA have issued.
Its fairly clear that the player will now never be allowed to appear in the English national side, because of the fact that he played for Spain when he was well below the age of seventeen and had no idea what the future would have in store for him. This little known rule by FIFA might seem to cause an uproar to some other players who might have not been aware of this rule. The closest that Arteta would come to playing for England is when he plays for Everton.
However the player might yet be able to spark a magical return to the Spanish national side, where he hasn’t made a senior appearance for almost forever. The player has the quality and the technique to play amongst the very best, but it would be interesting to see if the player is considered by the Spanish coach Del Bosque, to play alongside the likes of Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.