African players playing for European countries

Raees

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He meant well but it’s a logistical nightmare and means forcing players to represent a homeland they might not care for and may even put their lives at risk.

Would it improve these sides? Yes - even one world class player can make a big difference - Look at Bale for Wales. Imagine a handful but it is what it is... we are seeing more and more players want to represent African countries via their heritage so just a waiting game I guess.
 

roonster09

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Depends on what Jose is talking about, if it's about players like Saka, Mbappe who have African heritage then I don't agree with that. Both of them were born in the country they are representing, they got football schooling in the same country too.
 

JeffFromHK

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A player is "African" only if he holds a passport issued by an African country.

End of the story.
 

adexkola

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A player should play for who he wants to.

If Mourinho is implying that players of African origin can't represent their countries of birth in Europe or elsewhere then he is wrong.

However it's worth reflecting on why you do see this a lot with certain countries, closely tied to the remnants of their coloni
 

Uniquim

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tbh, I'd love to see more players choosing to represent African countries, or other non-European countries. Europe have a lot of very strong nations in terms of football talent, so I think that'd add to the spectacle of World Cups etc.

I think there's a little bit of a trend at the moment, with several countries being more active in recruiting eligible players. Jamaica (yes I know that's not Africa), have been very active in that regard, courting British-Jamaican players like Michail Antonio, Max Aarons, Andre Gray, Demarai Gray, Isaac Hayden, Mason Holgate, Liam Moore, Nathan Redmond, Kemar Roofe, Ivan Toney etc. Everyone didn't join but several players did.

Think Iñaki Williams and his brother Nico Williams, are set to switch to Ghana too, these days.
 

Adisa

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Think it's nonsensical. Players should choose.
The real issue is investment in African football.
 

Gopher Brown

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If he’s concerned about raising standards he should ask why the continent of Africa only gets 5 World Cup qualifying places whereas Europe gets 13 despite having nearly double the population of Europe?
 

do.ob

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Well done Mourinho for landing on that sweet spot where you have to ask yourself if he was being deliberately racist or just pretty ignorant and stupid.. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe what people can just say, because they work in football.

Would you tell people on the street that they have to be African and only African, because they are black, regardless about their actual back story. Someone even mentioned Kevin Prince Boateng, who was born in Berlin to a mother whose father was a cousin of Helmut Rahn. I don't even see a remote way in which Mourinho's statement appears reasonable, let alone well thought out (and by that in mean for more than a second).
 
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SilentWitness

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Identity and belonging are very powerful things and it is rightly everyone’s personal choice.
Agree. For ages I’ve been thinking about doing a PhD on the subject.

My father is English and my mother is Scottish and I was born in England but moved to Scotland when I was 1. I lived in Scotland until I was 22ish before moving away. My accent is Scottish, the person I became today has been shaped by Scotland and my experiences while in Scotland. I feel Scottish and would say I am Scottish. I don’t identify with being English or British at all.
 

JPRouve

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Well done Mourinho for landing on that sweet spot where you have to ask yourself if he was being deliberately racist or just pretty ignorant and stupid.. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe what people can just say, because they work in football.

Would you tell people on the street that they have to be African and only African, because they are black, regardless about their actual back story. Someone even mentioned the Kevin Prince Boateng, who was born in Berlin to a Mother whose father was a cousin of Helmut Rahn. I don't even see a remote way in which Mourinho's statement appears reasonable, let alone well thought out (and by that in mean for more than a second).
Exactly beyond the fact that people are free to choose which nation they want or don't want to represent, his point doesn't even benefit african nations, in the case of France many African nations are supplied large amounts of players.
 

Ramos

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This is a bit dumb. I know he probably means well but he's just reaffirming the views of those that automatically see any black or even mixed European as an African and not an European.

Remember those Stimac comments before the World Cup final? This doesn't help at all.
 

KirkDuyt

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The fact he probably doesn't mean any harm is a fantastic example of how ingrained racism is in our subconscious.
 

Glorio

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Someone born in europe is an european. Mentioning where his/her parents come from is incomprehensible, a form of alienation, or saying they dont really belong there. But i believe Mourinho just expressed himself badly. I dont think he would say that with an obscure inttention at all.
Dunno - I was born in Wales, but feel very African. Probably because I spent a lot of my formative years there. Now I live in London :lol:

There's the element of the person's family's culture that a lot of folks disregard though. Even if born and raised in Europe, if your parents are from Africa, you're very likely to be raised the way Africans will raise their kids.
 

flameinthesun

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As others have said he probably meant well, but there is a sense of the ol because you are black then you should play for your "motherland", which generally comes from an "if you are black then you are not really european you are african" mentality. If a person of colour identifies as french, spanish, english etc because that was where they were raised or born then that's who they should play for and nobody should tell them otherwise.
 

stefan92

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Well done Mourinho for landing on that sweet spot where you have to ask yourself if he was being deliberately racist or just pretty ignorant and stupid.. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe what people can just say, because they work in football.

Would you tell people on the street that they have to be African and only African, because they are black, regardless about their actual back story. Someone even mentioned Kevin Prince Boateng, who was born in Berlin to a mother whose father was a cousin of Helmut Rahn. I don't even see a remote way in which Mourinho's statement appears reasonable, let alone well thought out (and by that in mean for more than a second).
The Boateng brothers actually are a nice example to look at how players decide which country they play for. Both are born in Germany and grew up here, but Jerome had little trouble and just moved through the German national teams until he won the World Cup.

Prince however got a quite bad image in Germany, after some stupid and reckless actions (including the foul that ended Ballack's national team career), so he decided to run away to the country of his father to be able to play in a World Cup, while never really caring about the country.

Mourinho's idea would probably mean more of those cases, and I don't think that would improve the African teams much.
 

antk

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[Marca cover]

This topic is always thinly (or not) veiled with racism. There is so many layers to it that locking you up to a place you didnt chose to be born in is beyond stupid.
Marca are repeat offenders with this kind of shit. Don't know if we have Spanish posters around here who can help contextualize how it's being perceived there but at some point there must be both a slightly racist editorial team and a marketing angle to get all of Europe talking about your mediocre paper in a quieter part of the year (especially as RM's transfer window milestones are behind them).
 

Andersonson

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A player should play for who he wants to.

If Mourinho is implying that players of African origin can't represent their countries of birth in Europe or elsewhere then he is wrong.

However it's worth reflecting on why you do see this a lot with certain countries, closely tied to the remnants of their coloni
A player shouldnt play for the country he wants, he should play for the country he has a passport in.

But, players like Victor Moses who has played for U-18,U-21 etc for England, should he really be allowed to suddenly change and play for Nigeria? I think what Mourinho is trying to say is, that a lot of countries let players with dual nationality get one game, so they are tied to that country, and that is a problem. I think as long as you have played for one national team, you can't change. Unless the reason is war and the country you want to represent is not an option until maybe later on.
 

The Corinthian

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It works both ways. I’ve seen Brazilians play for nations such as Equatorial Guinea, Qatar etc which helps increase the quality and competition for those nations on the national stage.
 

Mb194dc

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It's a terrible and ridiculous idea. Nothing wrong with players from Africa or elsewhere having two or more nationalities and being able to choose which one they want to play for. There can be a multitude of reasons why someone might choose one country over another, look at Diego Costa for example, Thiago Alcântara and his brother Rafael Alcântara both play for different countries... Some players might have a poor relationship with one of the countries they are able to play for, so naturally will choose the other one.

Seems like an idea Mou didn't think through too well before speaking...
 

led_scholes

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It's up to players and its beyond football honestly. If they are not allowed to play for let's say France in a FIFA tournament, why should they also allowed citizenship?
I m sure Jose didn't say it from a nationalistic perspective, but this can be a dangerous discussion. Lepen (the father) was arguing the same. Again, I m 100% sure Jose didn't mean it in this way.
 

WeePat

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A player is "African" only if he holds a passport issued by an African country.

End of the story.
In footballing terms, perhaps yes but generally speaking, Europeans of African or Caribbean descent also claim their African or Caribbean roots. Same goes for the Europeans with Arab or South Asian background, although I'm not overly familiar with those communities.
 

foolsgold

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I've always thought that people should be able to play for any country they or their parents were born in, or where they lived as children and went to school.

If you've lived in a country before 16, went to school there then you should be able to represent it.
 

redDNA

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Thus is a difficult issue, and would slip into difficult topics such as race and nationalism.Players should choose which country to represent.

What FIFA should relax rules about eligibility of a player to play for one country after playing for another, some European countries field a player, if he is not 'good' for the their national team,but might be good enough for another country where they have heritage, but they are already tied,and so cant represent them anymore.

I also disagree with those who said that European player of African heritage wouldn't strengthen them.For instance these European Players of Nigerian heritage would strengthen the Nigerian national team.

Bukayo Saka
Angelo Ogbonna
Manuel Akanji
David Alaba
Fikayo Tomori
David Alaba
Dele Alli
Tammy Abraham
Karim Adeyemi
Michael Olise
Eberechi Eze
Malcolm Ebiowei.
Etc
 

BerryBerryShrew

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I think it's fairly obvious that José was just trying to virtue signal without giving it much thought. Not to be taken seriously.
 

NicolaSacco

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I’m interested to know if those posters who agree with Mourinho would also apply the same principle to the England/Ireland crossover.
 

NicolaSacco

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Thus is a difficult issue, and would slip into difficult topics such as race and nationalism.Players should choose which country to represent.

What FIFA should relax rules about eligibility of a player to play for one country after playing for another, some European countries field a player, if he is not 'good' for the their national team,but might be good enough for another country where they have heritage, but they are already tied,and so cant represent them anymore.

I also disagree with those who said that European player of African heritage wouldn't strengthen them.For instance these European Players of Nigerian heritage would strengthen the Nigerian national team.

Bukayo Saka
Angelo Ogbonna
Manuel Akanji
David Alaba
Fikayo Tomori
David Alaba
Dele Alli
Tammy Abraham
Karim Adeyemi
Michael Olise
Eberechi Eze
Malcolm Ebiowei.
Etc
There’s a very very impressive team in there somewhere.
 

BerryBerryShrew

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I do think that there could be something to be said for dual nationalities getting the option to switch international allegiance at some point: let's say after they turn 30 or something. I'm sure there are loads of players who really have a lot of affection for two countries and it would be nice if they had the option of representing both during their careers. For example, I'm sure Zizou would have liked to have played for Algeria at some point and I'm sure Algeria would have welcomed the opportunity.
 

Penna

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Yeah this discussion seems dumb. If you were born in Eritrea but chose to flee to Europe to escape the government and then became a successful footballer, then I'm not sure you'd look too kindly on being forbidden from playing for your adoptive country.

Perhaps Mourinho was just trying to say how good the African players are but not sure his suggestion is helpful.

I think this may be the reason, he feels African nations are missing out by "losing" potential elite players. However, it's up to the player. When you start talking about "countries of origin", what does that mean? Your parents' nationality? Where you were born?

In any case, not all countries have the same rules around citizenship. In Italy, it's generally all about the bloodline, not whether you happened to be born here.
 

Chipper

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While I can't name names it does seem from my perception at least that some players who could play for more than one international team end up picking the best one that they could end up playing for regularly. They'll pick the country they were born in if it's a big European nation if they think they're good enough to play for them, then drop down to the country where their parents or even a grandparent is from if they don't think they could cut it at that level or less often vice versa.

Can't say I'm keen on all that and it currently seems like some use international football to boost their careers or profile as representing a country does that better than representing no country. Sometimes it doesn't seem like it's about identity or passion for the country they end up representing which to me is what international football should really be about.

Part of me would quite like a rule where you only play for the country you're born in to curtail that but I understand the problems that would arise. You will have some players who despite only ever living in one country feel somewhat alien to it or a lack of belonging. They may feel they don't fit in or could have experienced racism. Then there are players who move with their parents to a new country when they are young, feel fully integrated and don't actually feel much at all for their place of birth.

Edit: Not even talking specifically African players, it happens with players from everywhere.
 
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fck

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I think this may be the reason, he feels African nations are missing out by "losing" potential elite players.
I don't think African nations are losing out though because most of those elite players wouldn't be elite if there weren't born and raised in european footballing nations. Where you grow up decides your chances of becoming a great footballer not where you come from. Otherwise a country like Algeria would be an absolute footballing powerhouse.
 

limerickcitykid

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Ireland won't like the principle behind this move.
The principal behind it would have the likes of Grealish, Rice, and Kane playing for Ireland. Why wouldn’t they like it?

Not to mention the likes of Rooney, Gerrard, Scholes, Ferdinand, Gazza, Keown and Darren Fletcher.

Ireland would have been winning the World Cup with this.
 

The Original

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I don't think African nations are losing out though because most of those elite players wouldn't be elite if there weren't born and raised in european footballing nations. Where you grow up decides your chances of becoming a great footballer not where you come from. Otherwise a country like Algeria would be an absolute footballing powerhouse.
Not true and demonstrably so.

If you compile a list of the top players of African descent of all time it would look like this:

Zidane
George Weah (Africa Born)
Benzema
Yaya Toure (Africa Born)
Eto (Africa Born)
Viera (Africa Born)
Salah (Africa born)
Aboutrika (Africa born)
Drogba (Africa born)
Okocha (Africa born)
 

mu4c_20le

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Well done Mourinho for landing on that sweet spot where you have to ask yourself if he was being deliberately racist or just pretty ignorant and stupid.. Sometimes I still find it hard to believe what people can just say, because they work in football.

Would you tell people on the street that they have to be African and only African, because they are black, regardless about their actual back story. Someone even mentioned Kevin Prince Boateng, who was born in Berlin to a mother whose father was a cousin of Helmut Rahn. I don't even see a remote way in which Mourinho's statement appears reasonable, let alone well thought out (and by that in mean for more than a second).
It's something that should be said privately amongst close friends in a bar, if he truly meant well. Otherwise, even if it's not what he meant, it just sounds like 'go back to your origin/ancestral nation, and they will win a wc'
 

Withnail

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I think Mourinho is just playing to his huge African fanbase.

But to answer that part of your contribution on the topic, it could.

If all African players had to play for their country of descent you'd find that a few countries already on the fore would be strengthened tremendously.

Nigeria, for example, would suddenly have:

David Alaba
Saka
Eze
Olise
Musiala

Thats half an outfield complement of very good to world class players in addition to a team that;s not too shabby already. Would it make them world cup winners? Impossible to say but that would be a decent team.
Why stop at Africa? You'd have to make everyone play for their 'country of descent' whatever the hell that means.

So anyone with Italian or Irish parents born anywhere has to play for the country their parents are from regardless of their citizenship or personal choice. What if the parents have different nationalities? It's an unworkable suggestion and as others have said there's a whiff of racism/xenophobia about the whole thing.
 

The Original

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Why stop at Africa? You'd have to make everyone play for their 'country of descent' whatever the hell that means.

So anyone with Italian or Irish parents born anywhere has to play for the country their parents are from regardless of their citizenship or personal choice. What if the parents have different nationalities? It's an unworkable suggestion and as others have said there's a whiff of racism/xenophobia about the whole thing.
Oh, I agree that it's not conceptually workable or even morally justifiable. Just don't agree that it wouldn't be beneficial to the African nations.
 

JPRouve

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Why stop at Africa? You'd have to make everyone play for their 'country of descent' whatever the hell that means.

So anyone with Italian or Irish parents born anywhere has to play for the country their parents are from regardless of their citizenship or personal choice. What if the parents have different nationalities? It's an unworkable suggestion and as others have said there's a whiff of racism/xenophobia about the whole thing.
Argentina and Brazil are crying while Italy and Portugal are claiming world class players left, right and center.:lol:
 

JPRouve

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Oh, I agree that it's not conceptually workable or even morally justifiable. Just don't agree that it wouldn't be beneficial to the African nations.
It wouldn't be beneficial because most of the players we are talking about wouldn't come from the same development system. Think about it this way, would you make the point that an english descent raised in the US benefits from the same football culture than someone raised in England? That Rooney would 100% turn into a world class player if he was raised in Cleveland Ohio?
 

huyn

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It's ironic how he actually has it backwards. If he'd look at the place of birth and birth nationality of players in african national teams, he'd realize most of them are born and raised in Europe and chose to play for the countries of their parents for different reasons (not being good enough to play for their country of birth is a common one but it's not the only one). More than half of the players in the former french colonies national teams are french, most of them have never lived in Africa.
More importantly, if a player has a legal right to play for multiples countries, he's free to choose and nobody should tell him otherwise.