The powerful centre-half, 26, was man of the match as high-flying Sunderland held Arsenal to a draw in the Premier League
A Sunderland legend and former England player has apologised after he called for Daniel Ballard to be added to the England squad by Thomas Tuchel.
The powerful centre-half, 26, was man of the match as high-flying Sunderland held Arsenal to a draw in the Premier League. While there is no doubt Ballard has the ability to play for almost anyone right now, the main hurdle to him playing for England is the fact that he has already played 32 times for Northern Ireland.
Ballard scored a goal, provided an assist and made a goal-saving block in injury time against Premier League favourites Arsenal. The centre-half began his career with the Gunners, having joined their academy at the age of eight.
Mackems legend Gray spoke on Talksport the morning after the game and said: “You talk about grabbing the Premier League with both hands and he’s done that.
“This is a late shout and it might be going a little over the top but we haven’t got too many centre-halves in our country. Has he left it too late? Because I think his performances deserve an England call-up.”
The former player was joined on the air by two football journalists, Henry Winter and Neil Custis, who failed to call Gray on his error.
Fortunately for Northern Ireland fans and management, Ballard is a well established international star by now, scoring five goals in his 32 caps to date.
Ballard will be back on duty for his country of choice again this week as Michael O’Neill’s men face crucial World Cup Qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg.
Ballard was born and raised in Stevenage, but his mother hails from Northern Ireland and he made his senior international debut in a 1-1 draw against Romania in 2020.
Former left-back Gray, who earned one Three Lions cap, later clarified his position on social media. He wrote: “My bad…yes Dan Ballard is Irish but I was caught up in the moment of how bloody amazing he has been this season.”
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