Football: born in Africa, hero of the Euro
The French Patrick Vieira and Marcel Desailly (on the right), during the victory at Euro 2000. AFP - PATRICK HERTZOG
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More than 30 players born on the African continent have already participated in a final phase of the European Nations Championship - the 16th edition of which begins on June 11, 2021 in Rome - and 6 of them have even won the competition.
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By Xavier Barret,
You can be born in Bamako and become European champion: Jean Tigana did it in 1984. You can be born in Dakar and win the Euro: Patrick Vieira did it in 2000, alongside Marcel Desailly, him - even born in Accra. For more than 30 years, only these 3 Africans by birth who wore the blue jersey of the France team had been able to win the Grail on the Old Continent: the Henri-Delaunay trophy, named after the Frenchman who inspired the competition and first secretary. UEFA general (in 1954). But, at the end of Euro 2016, the contingent of players born in Africa crowned European champions has doubled and it is not France who won this time. In the Portuguese selection which surprised the Blues at the Stade de France, there were no less than 3 players born in Africa: defensive midfielder Danilo Pereira (who now plays for PSG),native of Guinea Bissau, his alter ego William Carvalho (Betis Seville), native of Angola, as well as Eder (Lokomotiv Moscow), author of the Lusitanian victory goal in the final, also born in Bissau.
About thirty players born in Africa ...
If there are now 6 Africans by birth on the Euro charts, many more of them were born on the "black continent" and have participated in the competition. There are around thirty of them (see list below) and the largest contingent in the history of the European Nations Championship is not in France but in Portugal. No less than 14 players born in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome, DRC and even South Africa have thus been selected by successive Portuguese coaches for one or more editions of the 'Euro. And, from the first qualification of Portugal for the finals, in 1984 in France, a striker born 32 years earlier in Benguela splashed the competition: Rui Manuel Trindade Jordao scored a brace against the France team of Platini and Tigana (3-2 AP),in the semi-final in Marseille, and almost eliminated him… 32 years before Eder's goal in the final. Jordao died in 2019 at the age of 67, remains the first scorer of the Euro born in Africa.
Among these many Portuguese from Africa, another figure stands out: that of Abel Xavier.
If we remember his ever more fanciful hairstyles, the Mozambique-born defender marked the history of the competition with his hand in the penalty area which offered a "golden penalty" to Zinédine Zidane in the 117th minute of the match. semi-final France-Portugal (2-1) of Euro 2000 in Brussels.
And yet, Abel Xavier played only 2 matches in the final phase of the Euro ...
Alain Boumsong: "The choice between the France team and… nothing"
If Portugal is at the top of the list of nations having selected for the Euro the most players born in Africa, France is indeed in first place in terms of the number of matches played by these ambassadors. We find, in fact, 3 Blues on the podium of the Africans by birth most present in the competition: Marcel Desailly, with 12 matches in the final phases 1996, 2000 and 2004, ahead of 2 natives of Dakar, Patrice Evra (10 matches in 2008, 2012 and 2016) and Patrick Vieira (9 matches in 2000 and 2004 because he could not play in 2008). Three pillars of the Blues who total many capes and have chained several campaigns with the France team. Selected alongside them for Euro 2004 (1 match) and Euro 2008 (1 match), Jean-Alain Boumsong, born in Douala, did not hesitate to join the Blues: "
Binationals often have the choice between several selections from an early age
, analyzes the former defender of Auxerre and Lyon.
African federations are now better organized and the choice of players is difficult as we saw with Nabil Fekir. This choice must be difficult because it is important. In my time, I had the choice between the France team and… nothing. But, some in Cameroon then considered me a traitor. Fortunately, it was only a minority.
"
Also finalist of the 2006 World Cup with the Blues, Boumsong, now consultant for Canal + Sport, remembers the impact of the Euro in Africa: “
During the World Cups, football fans support African teams but, during the Euro, they are more divided. They follow the tournament because they know that it is a competition of which the level is raised but they do not always have a favorite team. So, if there is a selection with players of African origins in their ranks, they can go for it. In Cameroon, where I was born, and in French-speaking countries, the French team remains very popular. But, among our neighbors in the DRC, it is rather Belgium. The colonial past still plays an important role in fan preferences.
"
EURO: THE LIST OF PLAYERS BORN IN AFRICA
Among the thirty players born in Africa who were selected for a final phase of the European Nations Championship, only 27 participated in at least one match.
6 remained on the substitutes' bench.
12 matches
Marcel Desailly, born in Accra, France 1996, 2000 and 2004
10 matches
Patrice Evra, born in Dakar, France 2008, 2012 and 2016
9 matches
Patrick Vieira, born in Dakar, France 2000, 2004 and 2008
8 matches
Dimas, born in Johannesburg, Portugal 1996, 2000
6 matches
Claude Makélélé, born in Kinshasa, France 2004 and 2008
Gelson Fernandes, born in Praia, Switzerland 2008, 2016
5 matches
Jean Tigana, born in Bamako, Euro 1984
William Carvalho, born in Luanda, Portugal 2016
Danilo Pereira, born in Bissau, Portugal 2016
4 matches
Claudio Gentile, born in Tripoli, Italy 1980
Jordao, born in Benguela, Portugal 1984
Hélder Cristovao, born in Luanda, Portugal 1996
Vidigal, born in Sa da Bandeira, Portugal 2000
Johan Djourou, born in Abidjan, Switzerland 2008, 2016
Brel Embolo, born in Yaoundé, Switzerland 2016
3 matches
Oceano, born in Sao Vicente, Portugal 1996
Rolando, born in Sao Vicente, Portugal 2012
Eder, born in Bissau, Portugal 2016
2 matches
Jorge Cadete, born in Pemba, Portugal 1996
Abel Xavier, born in Nampula, Portugal 2000
Jean-Alain Boumsong, born in Douala, France 2004 and 2008
José Bosingwa, born in Mbandaka, Portugal 2008
Christian Benteke, born in Kinshasa, Belgium 2016
1 match
George Lamia, born in La Calle (Algeria), France 1960
Mbo Mpenza, born in Kinshasa, Belgium 2000
0 match
Steve Mandanda, born in Kinshasa, France 2008, 2012, 2016
& 2020
Paulo Madeira, born in Luanda, Portugal 1996
Nuno Espirito Santo, born in Sao Tome and Principe, Portugal 2008
Jores Okore, born in Abidjan, Denmark 2012
Christian Kabasele, born in Lubumbashi, Belgium 2016
François Moubandje, born in Douala, Switzerland 2016
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