James Carragher admitted that it was a no-brainer for him to accept the Malta FA’s invitation to play for the national team as it allowed him to play international football.
The Wigan Athletic defender made his Malta debut when he was at the heart of the national team’s defence during the 1-0 defeat to Finland at the National Stadium last Friday.
Earlier this year, Carragher and his father Jamie, the former Liverpool and England defender, were both awarded a Maltese passport due to their Maltese origins.
The grandfather of Jamie Carragher, who earned 38 caps for England as a player, is Paul Vassallo who lived in Qormi and married an English woman before moving to Bootle in the UK.
Speaking to the Times of Malta in the aftermath of the Group G clash last week, the 22-year-old said that he was proud to make the Malta debut and is looking forward to helping the team grow in terms of performance and fulfil their objectives.
“It was a really proud moment for me to make my first appearance for Malta,” Carragher said.
“I qualified for a Maltese passport as father’s granddad was Maltese and when the Malta FA approached me and asked me if I was interested in playing for their national team it was a no-brainer for me as it allowed me to play international football.
“The lads made me feel welcome right from the start and the coach gave me a lot of tactical information to make sure I adapt well to what he expected of me.
“I was quite pleased with my performance, but I know I can play better. It was just the first match and I need to adapt better with my team-mates and have no doubt that there is a much bigger margin of improvement.”
His father Jamie Carragher was present at the national stadium and sent a message of support for his son after the match, saying that he was unlucky to come out on the losing side against Finland.
On Friday, Malta suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat to Finland in a match which saw the home side create several scoring chances but they failed to breach the visitors’ defence.
“It was a disappointing result after we had performed so well,” Carragher said.
“The lads told me that the team hadn’t play so well for a while and the only thing missing from that display was a goal but I’m confident that there were a lot of positives on which we can improve.
“Now we have a tough game against Poland coming up but if we match the same amount of energy and determination showed against Finland we can aspire for a positive result.”