African football is indeed shifting into a very interesting direction.
Our continent has been losing talent to European national teams for years, but that is slowly changing.
African nations are now reaching far and wide for players with African nationality in an effort to increase their chances of playing in top international tournaments.
It’s obviously not always the best talent from those European nations.
But Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Zaha is a star for Crystal Palace and Alex Iwobi of Arsenal represents Nigeria and they’re not bad scraps or kanjani?
It gets even more interesting when you go further down the CAF national teams list, where the likes of Burundi, Madagascar and Mauritania feature.
REAL DEAL: Nigeria's Alex Iwobi (right). Photo: Samuel Shivambu/Backpagepix
Gone are the days of seeing the same old teams cruising through qualification for tournaments.
Burundi, Madagascar and Mauritania will feature at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
I mean, could you ever imagine that?
As a guest on SuperSport’s Soccer Africa show, SA football journalist and historian Mark Gleeson said: “It’s almost like if you’ve got a little of blood from Africa in you and you can play football, it doesn’t matter if you’re in the fourth or fifth division [in Europe] they’re calling you up for the national team.”
That’s exactly what these teams did, they dug deep into their database of people around the world to find football players with their nation’s citizenship.
And indeed in Gleeson’s words, it didn’t matter what level of league competition they played in, they got a call up to prove themselves.
And prove themselves they did, cause Madagascar will be there with a squad full of French semi-pro players and even one from Kaizer Chiefs.
Mauritania has a little bit of variety, but the bulk of players are also semi-pros from France mixed with some Spanish, Swiss and Greek.
Burundi’s story will warm your heart, because in their squad is a young man named Saido Berahino with an incredible story to tell.
Berahino fled his native Burundi as a child, he received political asylum in England where he became a sensation and represented England at all youth levels and was even called up for the senior team, but did not play.
MOVING STORY: Saido Berahino of Burundi. Photo: Supplied
Things have not gone according to plan since his move to Tottenham Hotspur collapsed while he was on the books of West Bromwich Albion in the English Premier League.
He is now at Stoke City rebuilding his career and has a unique opportunity to make a mark for his homeland and share his story with the world.
This year’s Afcon could be one we talk about for generations to come.
It will go beyond what’s on the pitch, it will be a reminder of just how connected the world is through football.