Socceroos Friendlies

[weston]

The difference is that they were all eligible for those nations at youth level. Traore was NOT eligible for any other country than Ivory Coast when he played youth so that means he can't ever play for anyone else. If he was eligible for Ivory Coast and Australia back then, a youth game wouldn't have locked him in... but that wasn't the case.

What you've just explained, to me, seems like a whole lot of bullshit (not having a go at you, but the rule in which you've just explained itself). I thought the rule was you were not locked into any nation until you have made your first international competitive fixture for the team. I didn't think youth mattered (as long as the player in question was eligible to play for nation in question)?

EDIT:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Cahill#Samoa

Change of allegiance
In February 2002, Cahill's former manager at Millwall F.C. Mick McCarthy, then the manager of the Republic of Ireland national team offered Cahill the opportunity to play at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Cahill has Irish grandparents and McCarthy had hoped that Cahill would be interested.[38] However Cahill was not eligible as he was cap-tied to Samoa.

FIFA changed its eligibility rules in 2004, allowing players capped at junior levels to switch international allegiance, meaning that Cahill was then able to play England, Ireland, Australia or Samoa. He chose to represent the country of his birth.

Has the rules changed since Tim Cahill?