Sport
4 players of African descent who represent European nations
Football players with two or more nationalities have a difficult decision to make. Which country should they represent at international level? Usually footballers will select which country to play for based on their heart but sometimes they will consider other factors, like boosting their value or simply getting more games. In this article, we look at four players of African descent who represent European nations.
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Luís Nani – Portugal / Cape Verde
Luís Carlos Almeida da Cunha, aka Nani, was born in Amadora, Portugal, and is of Cape Verde descent. He is one of many players of African descent who had the choice of representing Cape Verde or their former colonizer, Portugal.
Nani has been a Portugal international since 2006, shortly after he graduated to Sporting Lisbon’s first team. The now 33-year old amassed 112 caps for his national team and is currently playing for Orlando City in the MLS. The Portuguese winger is mostly known for his successful period at Manchester United and won the Premier League in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Nani left United in 2015 and the club has been in decline ever since.
During Euro 2016, Nani scored Portugal’s opening goal in the final match of the group stage, a 3–3 draw against Hungary, to help the team qualify for the knockout round. He then contributed to the only goal of the match in a 1–0 extra-time victory in the round of 16 against Croatia on. Nani scored the second goal in the semi-final against Wales and was awarded the captain’s armband after Cristiano Ronaldo went off injured as Portugal defeated heavy favourites France 1-0 in the final.
Christian Benteke – Belgium / DR Congo
Christian Benteke Liolo was born in Kinshasa, Zaire, now known as DR Congo, in 1990. In 1993, Benteke and his family fled to Belgium becuase of the Mobutu regime. The striker began his career in Standard Liège’s academy but made his breakthrough after moving to neighboring Racing Genk. After several loan spells, Benteke returned to Genk from Standard in August 2011 and went on to score 16 goals and offer nine assists in 20 league appearances in 2011/12.
He joined Aston Villa in 2012 and, after a successful period, was acquired by Liverpool in 2015. At Anfield, he was never able make the same level of impact and left for Crystal Palace only one season later. Because of injuries, the now 29-year old has struggled in London after a promising debut season. However, in 2019 he signed a contract extension keeping him at Crystal Palace until the end of the 2020–21 season.
Still a regular for the Belgian national team, Benteke is considered backup for Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku.
In addition to players such as Vincent Kompany, Jason Denayer, Romelu Lukaku and Michy Batshuayi, Christian Benteke is one of many football players with African roots who were eligible to play for the DR Congo national team but opted to represent Belgium instead.
Dele Alli – England / Nigeria
Bamidele Jermaine Alli, better known as Dele Alli, was born in Milton Keynes, England to a Yoruba Nigerian father, Kehinde Alli, and an English mother, Denise Alli. In the summer of 2016, Dele choose to remove the name “Alli” from his shirt as he no longer felt any connection to the Alli family name, simply choosing Dele instead.
On the 8th of August 2015, Dele made his Tottenham deb
ut and has since established himself as one of the club’s star players. The now 23-year old went through the youth ranks with England and made his first team debut in November 2015, scoring the opening goal as England sailed to a 2–0 win against France. Dele is widely considered to be one of the best midfielders of his generation and will likely be a crucial part of the Three Lions midfield in the coming decade.
Kylian Mbappé – Cameroon/Algeria
Though still just 21-years-old, Kylian Mbappé Lottin is already considered to be one of the best players in the world and is likely to be a regular contender for the Ballon d’Or in the coming decade.
Mbappé was born in Paris, France but could have chosen two African countries to represent internationally. His father, Wilfried Mbappé, hails from Cameroon, and is currently working as his agent, while his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian (Kabyle) origin and is a former handball player.
The centre-forward won Ligue 1 three times in a row, once with Monaco and twice with Paris Saint-Germain. He has scored 13 goals in 34 appearances for France and won the World Cup in 2018. Mbappé is one of many African football players who could have represented Cameroon instead of France but chose to represent Les Bleus instead. In 2018, he became the youngest player to score in a World Cup final since Pele, aged 19.
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