Why is Matty Cash playing for Poland? Reason behind £16m Aston Villa man’s World Cup inclusion

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Aston Villa fans, and regular viewers of the Premier League, may have noticed Matty Cash turning out for Poland at the World Cup earlier today.

The £16m man took to the field alongside stars such as Robert Lewandowski and Wojciech Szczęsny for Poland’s opening game against Mexico, although some spectators have wondered why the England-born defender is there.

Let’s take a look…

Why is Matty Cash playing for Poland?

Well, the 25-year-old was actually born in Slough, but he is eligible to play for Poland thanks to his mother, Barbara.

After being continuously overlooked by Gareth Southgate, Cash applied for a Polish passport in September 2021, before his application for citizenship was signed on October 26th at the Masovian Voivodeship government building in Warsaw.

In fairness to Southgate, he has the likes of Reece James, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold to choose from, so as talented as the Aston Villa No.2 is, it was always going to be tough to receive an England call-up.

Cash received his first Poland call-up in November 2021 after successfully applying for citizenship, and went on to make his international debut in a 4–1 away victory against Andorra on November 12th.

The Aston Villa fan favourite went on to win seven caps before the World Cup began, with today’s outing against Mexico his eighth appearance for Poland.

Cash has already scored his first goal for Poland, which came in a 2-2 draw against the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League back in June.

Poland should be pleased by Matty Cash decision

In our view, Cash is certainly one of the better right-backs playing in the Premier League, and he deserves to be involved on the international scene.

He is unfortunate to be playing at a time where England are blessed with so many world class right-back options, although Poland fans should be delighted with his decision.

In just a handful of appearances for Poland, Cash has performed very well, and should go on to receive many more caps seeing as he is just 25 years of age.