LONDON, Nov 25: Highly-rated Fulham midfielder Zesh Rehman has pledged his international future to Pakistan after giving up on breaking into the England set-up.

The 22-year-old has represented England at Under-17, -18, -19 and -20 levels, but has not been considered for the Under-21 side.

“I played a lot of first team games for Fulham last season but I wasn’t getting anywhere near the England Under 21s, even though I’d been part of the England and FA system for some time,” Rehman told www.fulhamfc.com.

“I thought that was really disappointing, and as my family are from Pakistan I made the decision to play for Pakistan about a month ago.

“Some representatives from Pakistan had been in touch and told me there were games coming up, and by that time the England Under 21 squad had been named and I was nowhere near it and that made my mind up.”

Rehman is the first to admit that the infrastructure of Pakistani football is still in need of development but he believes his profile as a Premiership player could help boost the game in a country where cricket and hockey are kings.

“At the moment it’s just taking off,” he said.

“They just need a catalyst to get it going, and hopefully that can be me. Obviously my situation means that I can link England and Pakistan together. Football’s a massive game in Pakistan, and they’re now putting a lot of time, effort and funding into getting us to a major competition.

“They’ve told me that they see me as an ambassador because of where I play my football, so it gives me some extra responsibility. They want to make me captain too, which is a great honour.

“I’ll be just as proud to represent Pakistan as England. I’m very happy with my decision and I won’t be changing my mind now. Hopefully we can make it to a World Cup in the not too distant future.”

Rehman made his Fulham debut as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Wigan in the League Cup in September 2003 and had his first Premiership start against Liverpool in April 2004.—AFP