Africa is the continent of athletic talent but that has come at a cost that has seen the continent lose most of its talent to other continents which has given them an edge in sporting endeavors.
In football this has made other countries stronger at the expense of African countries. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil the winners of the tournament had two players with African roots.
The same happened at the 2016 Euro in France the winners of the tournament Portugal still had African players on their team with the likes of Renato, Sanchez, Eder.
Spur Magazine takes the liberty to compile for you the European footballers with African heritage in their blood. Enjoy;
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Patrice Evra -Senegal
The former Manchester United star currently playing for Juventus who at one time captained the French national team is Senegalese. Evra was born in Dakar, Senegal in a family of 25 children fathered by a Senegalese diplomat whose parents moved to Belgium when Evra was just 12 months. While in Belgium, his parents worked at the Senegalese embassy. Two years later, the family moved to France when Evra was 3 years old.
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Sami Khedira -Tunisia
Africa misses this man’s footballing resume as he has played for Real Madrid and currently in Juventus and let’s not forget that he was part of the German squad that lifted the World Cup in 2014. His dad is Tunisian and the mom is German.
8. Christian Benteke – DRC
He is one of premier league’s top strikers and very lethal in front of goal. Benteke was born in Kinshasa DRC in 1990. In 1993 his family later on left the country during the Mobutu Sese Seko regime to settle in Liege Belgium.
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Marouane Fellaini – Morocco
The former Everton and current Manchester United midfielder is born to Moroccan parents in the city of Tangier. He was brought up alongside twin brother Mansour in Brussels Belgium.
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Dele Alli – Nigeria
If you’re a close associate of his you can refer to him as Bamidele Jermaine that’s if your tight but if not please use his other names he’s popularly known for. The Tottenham Hotspur and England star was born to a Yoruba Nigerian father and an English mother.
Other news: Alexis Snachez Facing Tax Fraud Charges
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Jerome Boateng – Ghana
His brother Kevin Prince Boateng has played for the Ghanaian national team on a number of occasions while Jerome plays for the German national team.
Like Khedira, he was among the world cup winning squad in 2014. Boateng is born to a German mother and a Ghanaian father. Among his outstanding attributes, it would be foul to forget he’s the rock at the Bayern Munich defense.
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Romelu Lukaku – Democratic Republic of Congo
The Everton striker has well defined roots in Africa despite that he plays for Belgium. Lukaku was born in Antwerp Belgium to Congolese parents. His father Roger Lukaku also played professional football and represented his country (not Belgium) but Zaire at the time.
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Paul Labile Pogba – Guinea
This should put a smile across your faces as we now know that the world’s most expensive footballer is African. This should be something worth noting and boast about next time we send our kids in sports. Born in France but his parents are from Guinea the same thing with his two older twin brothers Fiorentin and Mathias who play for the Guinea national team. He may also bear the name Paul but he is a Muslim.
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Kevin De Bruyne- Burundi
Many of you might expect this but the Manchester City ace is a well-versed Burundi man. Don’t be fooled by his white skin complexion. De Bruyne was born in Burundi and also lived in Ivory Coast.
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Savio Magala Nsereko- Uganda
We wanted to save you the best for last and this time it’s our country that was robbed of the talent. This boy was born in the streets of Kampala Uganda 1989 and currently resides in German.
He has represented the German national team of under 19 going ahead to win the 2008 UEFA European Championship with them and also played for the Under 20 team. He has also been around big European clubs like West Ham United, Fiorentina, Bologna and many others.
Ugandan authorities tried attempts to lure the player to play for Uganda when the ideal of dual citizenship was embraced but all their attempts were in vain.
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