FORMER Brighton star Mahmoud Dahoud has switched his national team allegiances to Syria after giving up hope of a Euro 2024 spot for Germany.
Dahoud, 28, has made two appearances for the German national team in friendlies, the maximum a player can have and still switch under FIFA rules.
Both caps came under former Germany coach Joachim Lowe in 2020 as he was gearing up for Euro 2020.
Dahoud did not make the cut for the squad and has not been called up for Germany since 2021.
The defensive midfielder joined Brighton from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2023 but never really settled on the South Coast.
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He made just nine Premier League appearances for the Seagulls before leaving the club in the January transfer window.
Now back in the Bundesliga at VFB Stuttgart, he's made six appearances and scored one goal.
Dahoud has already informed the Syrian Football Association of his decision.
He told Sky Germany: “I was very quickly impressed by the idea of playing for Syria. I grew up in Germany, spent my whole life here and was proud to play in the youth national teams and the senior national team. Germany is my home.
"Syria is my family's country of origin and ultimately also my birth country. And I learned early on from my family how privileged we are to live in Germany and how important it is at the same time to bring joy to the people in Syria.
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"I would like to do that and am really looking forward to this project that is close to my heart."
Dahoud is in line to make his debut for Syria at the next international break, with The Red Eagles set to play two friendlies against Myanmar.
The team are currently ranked 89th in the FIFA rankings, while Germany are 16th.