If things had turned out differently, Chelsea's Salomon Kalou would have been turning out for the Netherlands today at the ING Cup at the Hong Kong Stadium today. Instead, Kalou will be hoping to fire Ivory Coast to victory against a country which once turned him down.
Kalou will come up against some familiar faces when Ivory Coast take on the Netherlands in another crucial build-up to next week's Olympic football tournament. In the earlier game, Cameroon will face the United States with both teams looking for a morale-boosting victory.
On Tuesday, Kalou will turn 23. Born in Oume, the attacking midfielder played three seasons in the Netherlands for Feyenoord (2003-2006) and pursued the idea of becoming a Dutch citizen on the urging of his family who believed he had better prospects playing for the 'Oranje' than turning out for the country of his birth.
Having never played for Ivory Coast, Kalou stood a great chance of representing the Dutch national team whose former coach Marco van Basten was a great admirer of the young player. An official application was made but Dutch government officials were against accelerating the process.
It was not to be, and Kalou gave up the idea and made his first appearance for the Ivory Coast in February, 2007. But he still has feelings for his former country of residence.
'Holland are a really good team and they have many great players. These are the guys you pay to go and watch. It will be great just to be on the same pitch as them,' Kalou said.
