Football Identities

On 22 June 2019, Saido Berahino led out the Burundi National Football team in its opening match of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) against Nigeria. Although Burundi lost the match one nil, most commentators agreed that the Burundians despite being rank outsiders, made Nigeria sweat for the three points. Berahino’s Wikipedia bio notes that he is a Burundian footballer who currently plays for Championship side Stoke City in England. If one had read Berahino’s Wikipedia bio just three years ago, or even during the last AFCON, they would have noted that at that time he was an English player of Burundian origin having represented England in different age groups at international level.

Berahino joins a long list of football players who have opted to play for another country other than the country they live in and in most cases, the country they have represented at various youth levels of football. Players such as Wilfred Zaha, Emilio Nsue currently play for the Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea respectively, yet represented England and Spain at a number of Youth levels. Similarly Berahino represented England at under 17 to under 23 levels and was in fact at one point called to the senior national team although did not get a senior cap.

The official reason given by the likes of Zaha and Nsue of course revolves around their newly found sense of patriotism for their country of origin. In many of these instances, it is the case that these players have lived the majority of their lives away from their countries of origin. In the case of Zaha and Berahino for example, despite going to England at relatively young ages, their school, formative and working lives have had little or nothing to do with their countries of origin. To the extent that one would argue that the newly discovered sense of patriotism is rather steeped in a veritable sense of romanticism as opposed to any objective feelings of gratitude to either Burundi or Ivory Coast.

I have my doubts as to whether Wilfred Zaha speaks fluently any of the 78 languages that have been isolated in the Ivory Coast or French which is the country’s official language. Similarly, I doubt Saido Berahino remembers much of the Kirundi which is spoken by his fellow Burundi citizens. If patriotism is expressed in language then, we must look elsewhere to find signs of it in Zaha and Berahino.

The question really is “is this therefore a marriage of convenience between countries keen to strengthen their national football teams and players caught between the hard decision to compete for places in tougher national sides or simply assume citizenship of some obscure African country and stroll into that country’s national team?”

I come from a football mad country Zambia, and our absence at the Africa Cup for three consecutive tournaments has really hit home. In the mad frenzy of apportioning blame and looking for solutions that has followed each failed qualification attempt, a thread of argument has time and again crept into the conversation like a naughty child. It centers around the international careers of Charles Musonda’s children. Charles Musonda who is now Belgian, once patrolled the Zambian midfield in the 80s and early 90s with a cultured left foot(or right foot depending on your source) that many claim belongs up there with the best. His professional career took him to Belgium were he ended his club career, took up a coaching position and eventually citizenship. In his wake, three sons who are also footballers, one of them Charlie, making a smattering of appearances for Chelsea football club in England.

 “ Why doesn’t the football association speak to the Musonda brothers?”, they ask. The logic is clear. As talented as the Musondas are, chances of them becoming Belgium regulars are slim given the fierce competition for places. Assuming Zambian citizenship and boasting of a national career is invariably easier. Problem solved I suppose.

Identity is a rather complex concept. You only have to read one of Kwesi Appiah’s books to arrive at such a conclusion. There is probably a case to be made for these footballers who switch national affinities. Each one will have their own story with varied degrees of believability. Chances are that the pressure of winning, the pressure to excel at sports when tied to nations, might have just found a fertile nesting place in footballers’ ambitions to one day represent a country. Whether this is sustainable is a conversation for another day.

The French National Football Team won the World Cup with a squad largely made of players of non French descent

To the puritans, honest effort using your own resources will always be preferable. To others, games are to be won. And as long as one plays within the rules, there should be no problem. Burundi, the Ivory Coast and a host of other countries are certainly within their rights to shore up their footballing resources with talents such as those belonging to Zaha or Berahino. The rules allow it. Whether Zaha feels as much Ivorian as say Eric Bailly appears to be peripheral in this case.