“We Must Get It Right From Home To Produce Quality Players”
Later today, global football attention will be on Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, as La Roja (The Red One) of Spain go against the Three Lions of England in the final of 2024 Euro. Obviously, the match promises to be everything final as unarguably the best team of the tournament (irrespective of what happens today), Spain, on account of their invisibility leading to today’s final, comes up against a side that had rode on luck to qualify for the final.
However, while attention would be focused on the final, it is also imperative to point out that part of the propeller in both teams, leading to today’s final are players with African descent. For instance, in Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal, La Roja boast of pacy wingers of Ghanaian and Moroccan-Equatoguinean descent who have ran riot and created chances that had oiled the Spanish spine so far, with Yamal getting the decisive goal that ensured that Spain defeated France in the semifinal. The 16 years old Yamal who is of Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean parentage has been phenomenal in this championship.
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Coming to England, Bukayo Saka from Kwara State has proven dependable for the Three Lions. Apart from him, five other players who propelled England to today’s final are of African parentage.
The players are Kobbie Mainoo from Ghanaian parents, Eberechi Eze of Nigeria, Marc Guéhi from Cote d’Ivoire, Ezri Konsa from the DR Congo and Joe Gomez of The Gambia.
Overall, so many teams in the Euro 2024 can trace their succes to players of African descent like Kevin Danso of Austria whose efforts helped the team to the round of 16. Danso, 25 years of age and a defender, represented the country of his birthday whereas his parents are from Ghana. He grew up in England from the age of six under the wardship of Ghanaian parents, developing in the academies of Reading and MK Dons.
He once told BBC; “I’ve been very lucky to call Austria home and Ghana my ancestral home.
“The culture, the food, the people and everything that is Ghanaian makes me who I am today. I always follow the national football team and my support is always there for Ghana.”
From review of teams, fifty three players of African descent played for different European teams at the championship that would end today. That is massive from all indications. While arguments have always been that Africa in general and Nigeria in particular should dwell more on home grown players in national teams, emphasis should be made that France, since the turn of the century, had depended more on African players for their successes. They won the 1998 World Cup and the European Cup subsequently, leveraging their African players.
Assuming those players don the colours of their countries of origin and not birth, it would have made the competition more competitive from African angle.
Renowned Coach Jose Mourinho said this in a recent interview, saying it was high time FIFA made a law for players must play for their countries of origin instead of countries of their births.
“I want the world to see that Africa is equal to everybody. I know I won’t be popular for making this statement but FIFA should make things fair by refusing to let players represent other countries. This will make FIFA tournaments more competitive and not one sided.
“Africa is not behind when it comes to talents. They have the talents to win any tournament but their best players are scattered around the world — playing for other countries instead of their homelands.”
Mourinho believes that once FIFA took this suggestion, African countries would start winning the World Cup.
He gave an exam of two FIFA World Cup titles in 1998 and 2018, which were dominated by African players — “the likes of Zinedine Zidane (originally from Algeria), Patrick Vieira (Senegal), Claude Makelele (DR Congo) and Marcel Desailly (Ghana) are just a few of France’s heroes of 1998.
“In 2018 they were at it again when Paul Pogba (Guinea), N’golo Kante (Mali), Kylian Mbappe (Cameroon) and others were instrumental in winning their second World Cup.
“On the other side of the coin, we must applaud those who decided to get back and be with their national teams — Didier Drogba (two-time African player of the year) Kolo and Yaya Toure (helped Côte d’Ivoire win 2015 AFCON); Samuel Eto’o (record four-time African player who won two AFCON titles with Cameroon); Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (helped Senegal to win 2021 AFCON).
“South Africa also had players that could have easily opted to play for the European national teams, the likes of Benni McCarthy, Steven Pienaar, Quinton Fortune and many more,” Mourinho said.
Toeing similar path, Brazilian legend, Neymar, as per Menfoot, agreed with Mourinho, saying Africa would continue to struggle to win major global championship until their best players stop playing for European national teams. He spoke to
“Africa doesn’t win the World Cup because the African players play for Europe. This is the difference with us, Brazil: no matter where we are trained, we prefer to defend our country’s jersey.
“This is why we won five world cups. African footballers must be proud to defend their country, no matter where they are trained.
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“I find African footballers change a lot of nationality, choosing to play for European countries, and that’s what disadvantages Africa has to win the world cup. Look at Eto’o, Drogba, Mikel Essien or Sadio Mané: they all left their mark in football while playing for their original pavs. Other Africans should take this inspiration and I am sure Africa will win the World Cup.”
Meanwhile, back home, while some of the current players in the Super Eagles are formidably strong, the former African champions could be tighter if the three times African champions have leveraged the so many quality players of Nigerian descent currently donning the colours of European countries.
For instance, Nigeria, just in recent past and even now, could have boasted of a formidable national team with players of the country’s descent playing for other countries. From goalkeeper Noah Atubolu of Germany to defenders David Alaba of Real Madrid and Austria; Fikayo Tomori of AC Milan and England; Angelo Ogbonna of West Ham United and Italy and Manuel Akanji of Manchester City and Switzerland.
In the midfield and attack, there are Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace and England; Ross Barkley of Luton Town and England; Karim Adeyemi of Borussia Dortmund and Germany, as well as Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich and Germany;
Bukayo Saka of Arsenal and England, and
Folarin Balogun of AS Monaco and the United States. The list also include Michael Olise of Bayern Munich and England; Tammy Abraham, Dele Alli, Noah Okafor of then AC Milan and Switzerland, as well as Dominic Solanke and Carney Chukwuemeka of then Chelsea. The lists are endless but the above can effectively form a formidable national team for Nigeria.
While some of the players mentioned above may not be able to bench a couple of stars presently in the Super Eagles, their additions would bring competition in the team. So why have Africans not leverage their stars abroad to shore up their national teams as Neymar has cautioned?
According to a renown sports writer from Zambia, Alfred Chansa, as per ‘The Citizens’, Mourinho is right but some of the players mentioned were born, bred and developed as players in Europe, saying unless there is a formidable foundation put in place in terms of incentives and good environment, the players would automatically align with their countries of birth.
“Mourinho is right but do we even have the league and national teams to attract players born abroad?
“It won’t be right for FIFA to force it on the players but the African authorities should do more to attract such players.
“When we are transparent in our actions, show dedication towards developing infrastructure and make our football competitive and corruption-free, the players will automatically come.
“But how many national teams in Africa are close to what these players see in Europe? Perhaps less than five,” he said.
Like Chansa admitted, so many things are wrong with African football setup. For instance, even before stepping out for the Euro 2024, England Federation and the Three Lions have, According to The Sun, agreed that the players and the coach would earn a share of £14 million if they lift the trophy tonight.
The players will earn a share of the £24 million that the country’s football association would receive for winning the tournament.
It is claimed that the amount assigned for the players in an event of a victory would be £9.6 million, with that sum being shared across the squad.
Southgate would also be in line for a £4.6 million bonus for becoming just the third England manager in the country’s history to win a major international tournament, while assistant coach Steve Holland would also receive an undisclosed bonus.
But in Nigeria, issues of common bonus have severally pit the players against the NFF, leading to face-offs. Desire Oparanozie, former captain of the Super Falcons, it would be recalled, was at a time stripped of his captaincy because she championed a case for the players. Several players in the Super Eagles have been victimised at one time or the other on account of speaking out over entitlement rows. Such is not the kind of national team that could attract high-profile players of Nigerian descent.
Mbappe, it would be recalled, would have been a player of Indomitable Lions today but the alleged corruption in the Cameroonian Federation meant that they demanded bribe from his father when the latter took him down to the African country to be used in the age group national team.
Frontally, NFF’s instability in the issue of logistics for the national team has tended to bring down morale in the national team and here we are talking of players who are coming from a very sane environment.
However, speaking on this, Coach Kadiri Ikhana even disagreed on scouting for those foreign-born players, saying there was no need to even court the players born outside Nigeria unless such willingly comes to play for the Super Eagles. He spoke to SUNDAY INDEPENDENT.
“Look let me tell you, Bukayo Saka, for example, is from Europe. I mean he was born there. Let’s not deceive ourselves because he has Nigerian parentage; he is an European,” he said.
“By going to depend on those players, we are exposing ourselves that we cannot produce their kind or that we don’t have a league that can produce their kind.
“That is laughable and I don’t support that. Some of all those players we are talking of here were born abroad and they see themselves as Europeans.
“To me, when we get our home front right, we will produce players even better than them.
“This is just like the raging issue of getting a foreign coach; what can they do that a Nigerian manager cannot do?
“I read that they are dragging a coach now, promising to pay him so much. But when it has to do with a Nigerian coach, they won’t give the same attention,” he said.
