Top 5 Players Never To Have Been Capped By Their Country - 5

Mikel Arteta [Image from Flickr by: Mikel Arteta 1]

5. Mikel Arteta

Is Mikel Arteta the unluckiest man in football? There are many moments in a player’s career that can alter their entire lives, sometimes they work out but other times they don’t and unfortunately for Mikel Arteta, they all seem to have gone against him. Born in San Sebastian, Arteta was childhood friends with Xabi Alonso and they both dreamed of playing together for Real Sociedad. However, at age 15, Arteta upped and left for Barcelona whilst Alonso stayed in the Basque country. 3 major tournament wins and 106 caps later, Alonso can rightly look back and wonder how it never happened for his close friend. It never worked our for Arteta at Barcelona and in 2000 he was loaned out to Paris Saint Germain. Although not setting the world alight at club level, Arteta was regularly being capped by Spain Under 16s all the way up to the Under 21s. Yet that final step up never materialised. Even now after 7 extremely successful years in England and regular Champions League football with Arsenal, there is no sign of that first cap for an extremely talented footballer. Once again it is a case of an above average player handed the misfortune of having to compete for spots with some of the greatest players his country has ever seen. Still only 30, there may yet be a call up for Arteta if his good form continues, but somehow I doubt it. Being capped now would surely be out of sentiment, not on form and that could be worse than not being capped at all. Unfortunately, that is the tale of Mikel Arteta, a great player in a top league for almost a decade, yet he has played no part in his nation’s complete and utter domination of International football. There are some things that even footballers’ wages cannot fix.