The “Africanisation” of French Football

You’ve all heard about globalisation, right? It’s certainly no new phenomenon in the world of football, with Brazilians all over the globe, Spaniards and Frenchmen starring England, Dutchmen dominating in Spain and all that.

Yet, the situation in France takes all this to a whole different level. Indeed, it’s not just globalization where French football is concerned; it’s what I’d describe as the “Africanisation” of French football.

Consider this: No less than 100 players of African descent currently ply their trade in French Ligue 1 – that’s an average of more than 5 players per club. Of course, this being France, a good number of those players are African in name only, having been born and raised in France – like the now-retired Zinedine Zidane. Then, there are those who were born in Africa but have made France their home from a young age and have either opted to represent their adopted nation – think Patrick Vieira – or have reached back to represent the country of their forebears – like Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.
A third category would be African players who have arrived France as full-fledged professionals, like Nigerian Taye Taiwo, at Marseilles.

Still, African is African and there’s no mistaking the African names when any two French clubs do battle in Ligue 1 these days. Don’t even get me started on the number of Traores playing in France! Perennial champions Lyons boast no less than five Africans of different stripes; Les Bleus defender Alain Boumsong was born in Douala, Cameroon, while his national teammate Karim Benzema was born and raised in France. On the other hand, defender John Mensah (Ghana) and winger Kader Keita (Ivory Coast) already made their names elsewhere before moving to France.

Lyons are hardly unique too. Marseilles have six Africans on the books, Toulouse have seven and Nice lead the way with no less than eight African players in their first team squad.

Yet, this preponderance of Africans in Ligue 1 tells only half the story of the Africanisation of French football; Africans are also taking over at national team level.

You can argue that African players are no new thing at this level – and you’d be right too. Mali born Jean Tigana was a star of the great French team of the 1980s; Basile Boli was a fixture under Michel Platini in the early 1990s and more recently, Zidane, Vieira and Congo-born Claude Makelele have been national team icons.

But never have there been so many African players in and around the French national team and the prospect of an All-African French national team isn’t as far-fetched as you might imagine.

You think I’m exaggerating? Well, just consider this eleven:



Goalkeeper
Steve Mandanda (Marseilles) – born in Kinshasa, Congo, this 23-year-old is already club captain and boasts 6 caps for France.

Right Back
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal) – born in France of Senegalese parents, he was voted best right back in the Premiership last season. The 25-year-old has 5 caps.

Left Back
Patrice Evra (Man Utd) – born in Dakar, Senegal and arguably the best left back in England. Evra, 27, made his name with Marseilles and has 16 caps.

Centre Back
Jean Alain Boumsong (Lyons) – experienced 29-year-old born in Douala, Cameroon. Has 24 caps and should win more with Lillian Thuram now retired.

Centre Back
Adil Rami (Lille) – the only uncapped member of this eleven, but has been called up for recent games. Born in France of Moroccan parents, Rami, 23, is an up and coming Ligue 1 star.

Right Midfield
Lassana Diarra (Portsmouth) – heading to Real Madrid in January after bouncing around England with Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth, the 23 year-old Diarra is of Malian descent and has 16 caps.

Defensive Midfield
Alou Diarra (Bordeaux) – 27-year-old captain of Bordeaux and also of Malian descent, he has 17 caps

Attacking midfield
Samir Nasri (Arsenal) - coming of age at Arsenal, he is of Algerian descent and at 21, already boasts 14 caps (2 goals)

Left Midfield
Hatem Ben Arfa (Marseilles) – gifted midfield star who came to the fore at Lyons. Born in France of Moroccan descent, the 21-year-old has 7 caps.

Striker
Bafetimbi Gomis (St Etienne) – surprise choice at the Euros in June, the 23-year-old of Senegalese descent has scored twice in his 4 appearances for Le Bleus.

Striker
Karim Benzema (Lyons) – the new golden boy of French football is already a big star and national team regular at 21. He has 19 caps (5 goals).

In a nutshell: Mandanda – Sagna, Boumsong, Rami, Evra – Diarra.L, Diarra.A, Nasri, Ben Arfa, - Gomis, Benzema

Obviously, these lads aren’t all first choice for France right now. Yet, the prospect of a good number of them starting together for Les Bleus in the near future is very likely.

It might just be fitting for the most African league in Europe – and most appropriate for the first African World Cup Finals in 2010.