Scotland appear to have seen off interest from Zimbabwe to secure the international future of Wolves youngster Ethan Sutherland. The 20-year-old, who joined Molineux from St Mirren three years ago, is currently on loan at Exeter City after a spell with Solihull Moors last season.
The left-sided player, who signed a new long-term contract with Wolves in the summer, is eligible to play for Scotland through his father and Zimbabwe through his mother. He has been named in Tony Docherty's latest Scotland U21 squad as well as in the Zimbabwe U23 roster for their upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifying double header against Mali.
International Eligibility and Career Path
Sutherland, a former St Mirren youth prospect, was previously capped by Scotland at U19 level and is in line to make his U21 debut in friendly clashes with Ukraine and the USA, both of which are set to take place in Spain.
Zimbabwe U23 manager Marc Sanchez said: "We have been in touch with the players during the past few weeks. We will start preparing with them when everyone is here."
Zimbabwe's Pursuit and Scotland's Response
In April this year, Zimbabwe's FA claimed that Sutherland had agreed to play for them, but he has yet to feature. Their sports director, Marshall Gore, said at the time: "We are delighted to share that Wolves winger Ethan Sutherland has officially committed to playing for Zimbabwe." He added: "He has started his Zimbabwean passport application process at the Zimbabwe Embassy in the UK and Ethan and his mother met our ambassador."
It is thought, however, that Sutherland has his heart set on representing Scotland, known as the Dark Blues. Earlier this week, Scotland U21 boss Docherty revealed that Dundee United starlet Daniel Bennie turned down an approach to play for his team in favour of Australia because of an upcoming Olympic Games tournament.
