How Africa had a big influence on Euro 2024

The immigration boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s transformed the European Championship into a more culturally diverse event than ever before.

As the 2024 edition reaches the semi-finals, many teams can attribute part of their success to the performances of players of African descent.

Kevin Danso, more than anyone, is the perfect example. The 25-year-old defender was a mainstay in his native Austria’s last-16 run, but grew up in England from the age of six under the tutelage of Ghanaian parents, developing in the academies of Reading and MK Dons.

Despite being at the intersection of three different nations, Danso, who plays for Ligue 1 side Lens, has always remained connected to his roots.

In June 2022, he visited Ghana for the first time, a trip that left a deep impression on him. “I was fortunate to have Austria as my home and Ghana as my ancestral homeland,” Danso told BBC Sport Africa.

“The culture, the food, the people and everything Ghanaian makes me who I am. I still follow the national football team and I still support Ghana.”

Appropriating Ghanaian culture also means embracing its social peculiarities, including the persistent food rivalry with its West African neighbor Nigeria.

Fellow Austrian international David Alaba, who is of Nigerian origin, has a willing training partner. “He (Alaba) knows that Ghana has the best jollof but he will never hesitate to contradict me.”

Spain’s dynamic attacking duo

During their rise to the top of international football in the late 2000s, the Spanish game was defined by slow, patient play. But things have changed, and Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal now have two direct, speedy wingers of Ghanaian and Moroccan-Equatorial Guinean descent.

In the same way that international affiliation divided the Boateng brothers, Jerome and Kevin-Prince, between Germany and Ghana respectively in the 2010s, Nico and his older brother Inaki are now on different paths.

Both were born in Spain, children of Ghanaian migrants who crossed the Sahara in search of a better standard of living, but while they share a strong brotherly bond, the latter has pitched his tent with the four-time African champions rather than in his new home country.

And while Inaki found life with the Black Stars difficult after making that choice, Nico has been one of Spain’s rising stars at his second major tournament.

His stunning goal in the 4-1 last-16 win over Georgia may have been his first goal of Euro 2024, but Nico had already demonstrated his threat earlier in the tournament, notably in the lopsided 1-0 win over defending champions Italy.

“We may have followed different international paths but I always look to him (Inaki) for advice,” Nico told BBC Sport Africa.

“Playing in the same tournament (the 2022 World Cup) was a dream come true and our parents are most proud of it because we represented two countries that define our family history.”

Yamal, on the other hand, is a creative and flexible player whose decision-making ability betrays his youth. Few 16-year-olds make as much of a splash in their first tournament as the Barcelona prodigy in Germany.

Unequivocal about their desire to represent their homeland, Morocco nevertheless hoped to get the better of Spain to secure Yamal, as they had done in the past for other Spanish-born internationals such as Achraf Hakimi and Brahim Diaz. Their loss was Spain’s gain.

“Bambi” featured for L’Équipe

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