It amuses me that earlier this year, Adrian Segecic, after doing quite well at Pompey, decided to switch nationality to Croatia from Australia.
However, all he got was one Croatia u-21 cap and no senior call-up.
He can never play again for Australia, the land of his birth, who were more likely to call him up and give him the chance to play in major tournaments like the Asian Cup and World Cup (he received senior call-ups to the Socceroos squad in 2025 by Tony Popović, but didn't get on the field), while it seems doubtful if he will ever get a senior call-up by Croatia.
Brooke-Smith, could of course switch allegiance to England, the land of his parents, but is nowhere near good enough to come into England contention at any level.
It will be interesting to see how Brooke-Smith goes.
It will be sink or swim territory for the lad, with him likely to only get minutes for Pompey's reserve/youth side or go out on loan to a side a division or two down.
I hope that he will have a parent or English-based family member over there to support him.
If he doesn't make it at a decent level, I hope he will come back to the Phoenix, as has happened with others like McGarry and Clayton Lewis (and even a young Michael Boxall after his first brief stint in the MLS didn't work out).
However, all he got was one Croatia u-21 cap and no senior call-up.
He can never play again for Australia, the land of his birth, who were more likely to call him up and give him the chance to play in major tournaments like the Asian Cup and World Cup (he received senior call-ups to the Socceroos squad in 2025 by Tony Popović, but didn't get on the field), while it seems doubtful if he will ever get a senior call-up by Croatia.
Brooke-Smith, could of course switch allegiance to England, the land of his parents, but is nowhere near good enough to come into England contention at any level.
It will be interesting to see how Brooke-Smith goes.
It will be sink or swim territory for the lad, with him likely to only get minutes for Pompey's reserve/youth side or go out on loan to a side a division or two down.
I hope that he will have a parent or English-based family member over there to support him.
If he doesn't make it at a decent level, I hope he will come back to the Phoenix, as has happened with others like McGarry and Clayton Lewis (and even a young Michael Boxall after his first brief stint in the MLS didn't work out).