In 2002, I travelled to Sedan in northern France to watch a match against Lens that featured some of the Senegal players likely to represent their country in the opening match of that year’s World Cup against France.
Afterwards I wrote: “If Dakar-born Patrick Vieira were playing for the country of his birth, Senegal would have a real shout at springing the World Cup’s first upset.” I was wrong, of course: Senegal beat the then World Cup-holders, Vieira and all, 1-0 en route to the quarter-finals.
Vieira, like the great Eusébio, who died on Sunday aged 71, is part of an honourable international football tradition of African-born footballers who made their names playing for non-African countries.
Here, as a tribute to the Maputo-born marksman who scored 41 goals in 64 matches for Portugal between 1961 and 1973, and possessed one of the most potent right feet in the history of the game, is a team comprising some of the best of those African-born non-African internationals.
Born Played for
Goalkeeper: Steve Mandanda Kinshasa France (16 caps)
Right-back: Abel Xavier Nampula Portugal (20 caps)
Centre-back: Rolando Cape Verde Portugal (18 caps)
Centre-back: Marcel Desailly Accra France (116 caps)
Left-back Patrice Evra Dakar France (54 caps)
Midfield: Mario Coluna Inhaca Portugal (57 caps)
Midfield: Patrick Vieira Dakar France (107 caps)
Midfield: Jean Tigana Bamako France (52 caps)
Striker: Just Fontaine Marrakech France (21 caps)
Striker: Eusébio Maputo Portugal (64 caps)
Striker: Nani Cape Verde Portugal (72 caps)
While every member of this proposed XI represented either France or Portugal, the team might have been considerably more eclectic. Other Africa-born internationals include Roy Wegerle (USA), Emmanuel Olisadebe (Poland), Christian Benteke (Belgium), Colin Viljoen (England), Gerald Asamoah (Germany), Jores Okore (Denmark), Johan Djourou (Switzerland) and Daniel Batista Lima (Greece).
David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 World Cup and London 2012. Owen’s Twitter feed can be accessed at www.twitter.com/dodo938.