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Home , Bacary Sagna, Blaise Matuidi, Divock Origi, Mamadou Sakho, Marouane Fellaini, Nacer Chadli

GOOAL! SATURDAY VISION, JULY 5, 2014 5

2014 Africa still at the WC

ince all five African representa- started playing for Auxerre for the first team, they tives were eliminated from the (Senegal) contacted me and I had a game on the World Cup here, the first ques- same day with the French national team under Stion I have had to deal with, is 21’s so I had to make a choice”. why I have I still found interest in the tournament. Belgium On Monday, three French colleagues were kind (Kenya), enough to invite me for a party-filled night out (DR Congo), (Congo), after their close shave win over Nigeria. Mousa Dembele (Mali), We chatted for hours about all things French (Morocco), (Morocco), An- and why Africa were big chokers at the World thony Vanden Borre (DR Congo). FRED KAWEESI Cup. Kompany’s father, Pierre, is a Congolese im- IN RIO DE JANEIRO But the one thing I noticed during the discus- migrant to Belgium and serves as his agent. sion was that Africa could probably still have Fellaini was eligible to play for either Belgium had a representative here had the playing field or Morocco. He chose to represent Belgium, been level. from youth level upwards. Chadli’s parents are For example, some of France’s players are from Morocco too but chose Belgium. famously non-French. Not that there is anything Dembele was born in Wilrijk but his father wrong with that. But given France’s status as Yaya is of Malian origin. favourites, what if some of their guards had cho- Lukaku was born in Antwerp but his father sen to represent their countries of origin, would Roger Lukaku is Congolese and even repre- France, Belgium, Germany or the Netherlands sented DR Congo. still have a say in the current championship. Origi would have been next door representing The nature of football and of international Kenya. His father Mike Okoth and mother Linda demographics has seen a number of players Athiambo are of Kenyan origin. competing for European nations here, play- ers who would have been eligible to represent Germany African national sides. Jerome Boateng (Ghana), Sami Khedira With the help of Wikipedia, I will take you (Tunisia) through some (with particular focus on the eight Although his brother Kevin-Prince Boat- quarterfinalists) that would have helped some eng chose Ghana, Jerome Boateng opted for African states qualify or given those that did, a Germany. Khedira was born in but his significant chance at this World Cup. father is Tunisian.

France Netherlands Eight of France’s 23-man team stars Martins Indi (Guinea-Bissau), Terense have African origins. Kongolo (DR Congo), (Senegal), (Ghana). (Guinea), (Algeria), Indi was born in Portugal but to parents from (Senegal), Guinea-Bissau. He moved to Rotterdam, South (Angola) and (Senegal), Netherlands at the age of three months. (DR Congo/Angola), Moussa Kongolo was born in Switzerland his parents Sissoko (Mali). are from DR Congo. Memphis Depay’s parents Sakho was born in to Senegalese parents on the other hand are from Ghana. and was the fourth child of a family of seven children. On the contrary, Evra was born in Senegalese capital to a Senegalese father of Guinean descent and Juliette, a Cape Verdean mother. Ahead of the 2010 World Cup, Evra even confessed that he had suffered racial abuse from Senegal fans for choosing to represent France internationally over his native homeland. Midfielder Matuidi was born in , Haute-Garonne to an Angolan father, Faria Rivelino. He was however raised in the Parisian suburbs of Fontenay-sous-Bois. Pogba’s story even hurts the most. Of Guinean origin, Paul Pogba is now one of the best players in France. His older twin brothers Florentin and Mathias chose to represent their country of birth Guinea. How about Benzema? The Real Madrid star was born in the city of Lyon to French nationals of Algerian descent. The one player you would excuse is Sagna. At age of 17, Sagna wished to join up with the Senegalese national team stating, “I wanted to play for Senegal when I was 17, but they didn’t reply. So I was a bit disappointed. But when I Benzema (left), Origi and Boateng all have African origins which could have made them eligible to represent African teams. Photo by AFP