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French Soccer Superstar Kylian Mbappe Could Have Also Played for Cameroon Or Algeria

French Soccer Superstar Kylian Mbappe Could Have also Played for Cameroon Or Algeria

By Florence Mafomemeh               

French Soccer Sensation and international superstar Kylian Mbappe is playing for the French national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. However, he also had the choice to play for either Cameroon or Algeria but chose France, his nation of birth.

Kylian Mbappe With His Mom Fayza Lamiri and Dad Wilfried Mbappe

Mbappe’s father, Wilfried, who is originally from Cameroon, is his agent as well as a football coach, while his mother, Fayza Lamari, is of Algerian Kabyle origin and a former handball player.

Reports have surfaced that the striker had made efforts to play for his fatherland, Cameroon but corrupt practices and shortsightedness of Cameroon’s government officials forced him to dump the Indomitable Lions and play for Les Bleus (The Blues). According to Sports Brief, Mbappe’s father disclosed how a member of the Cameroon Football Federation asked for money from his son thus forcing him to play for Les Blues rather than Cameroon.

“At first, I wanted my son to play for Cameroon but, someone at the Cameroon Football Federation charged a sum of money that I didn’t have to make him play. The French didn’t charge anything,” Wilfred Mbappe said.

Even soccer legend Samuel Eto’o, now president of the Cameroonian Football Federation and an advocate for nurturing of African talent from Africa as opposed to calling up players from the diaspora, had made some shocking remarks about Mbappe that justified his decision to turn his back on Cameroon.

“Africans have a lot of talent, Europeans a little less. But the Europeans have understood something: training. Training is the magic of all success,” the former soccer superstar had said at the time.

After opting to play for France, the 23-year-old Paris Saint-Germain striker  sent touching messages to Cameroon and Algeria Fans saying that Cameroon and Algeria are part of him as they are his true origin and he can never deny it.  He once stated that even though he is not representing either Cameroon or Algeria, he will continue to support them. 

“Cameroon and Algeria are a part of me. I support them both. My nationality is French, but my origins are Algerian and Cameroonian. I cannot deny my origins and I am very happy,” the next best player in the world said.

The now forward for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain who is considered one of the best players in the world, and  renowned for his dribbling abilities, exceptional speed, and finishing, made his senior debut for France in 2017.  Before that he represented them at under-17 and under-19 levels. At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Mbappé became the youngest French player to score at a World Cup, and also became the second teenager, after Pelé, to score in a World Cup Final. Considered France’s L’enfant terrible, the 23-year-old soccer star is France’s most talented soccer player and was part of France’s World cup winning team of 2018.  

He finished as the joint second-highest goalscorer as France won the tournament. He also received the Best Young Player and French Player of the Year awards for his performances. In 2018 Mbappe became the most expensive teenage footballer when PSG signed him for €180 million. 

Now a World Cup winner with France and one of the best players in the world, Mbappe, not playing for Cameroon is a big loss for the Indomitable Lions. However, he is proud of his African roots and said that the development of African sports is important to him because of his parents’ African origins.

Mbappe has a younger brother, Ethan who played for PSG’s under-12 squad in 2018 and an adoptive brother, Jires Kemba Ekoko also a professional football player. 

The shortsightedness, incompetence and corrupt nature of government officials has caused Africa to lose its best athletes to western nations. However, their successes make Africa proud.

 

By Florence Mafomemeh

Black Nation News

Florence Mafomemeh Administrator
ABOUT FLORENCE MAFOMEMEH – FOUNDER, OWNER AND EDITOR OF BNN Florence Mafomemeh is the founder, owner and editor of Black Nation News – BNN Mafomemeh is a multimedia, backpack journalist and three-time B Free award-winning community video producer. She produces long and short form video and audio stories and writes news for broadcast and online media. She is very passionate about stories that impact the lives of ordinary people.  A native of Cameroon in West Africa, Mafomemeh wanted to become a journalist since the time she was in secondary school. As a news junkie, she realized that news hardly reach all ordinary people and their stories were not being told. She told herself that she would be a journalist so that she would bring the news to them and give them a voice by telling their stories to the world. Growing up, Mafomemeh watched, read and listened to a lot of national and international news and used much of her pocket allowance to buy international news magazines like Time and Complete Football International. In order to not miss the news, she slept with a small radio under her pillow and usually left a tape for news to be recorded for her when she was not at home. Currently living in New York City, Mafomemeh graduated from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2019 with a master’s degree in Journalism. While in school, she produced radio and TV News stories on deadline as a one-man band. She also reported news stories around New York City for the NYCITY News Service. Florence was also a news reporter and co-anchor for 219 West, a TV News Magazine that aired on CUNY-TV. As a field Community video Producer at Brooklyn Free Speech TV, Mafomemeh produces news stories that highlight issues in East New York and New York City. Her stories have had eight B Free Award nominations and three wins – The George Stoney B Free Awards for Social Impact and B-Informed, and The B Free People’s Choice Award. Florence has also freelanced for NYCPolitics.com and was a NYS Election Reporting Fellow with the Center for Community Media at CUNY. Mafomemeh also has a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from CUNY- Brooklyn College, a B.A. in English, and an M.A. in the Literatures in English and Commonwealth nations from the University of Yaounde 1 in Cameroon. She specialized/majored in Caribbean Literature, focusing on the West Indies where she did her dissertation on the works of V.S. Naipaul. She also has certificates in journalism, community news production & reporting, proofreading and editing 101 from New York University-SCPS, People’s Production House and Teacher’s College, Columbia University. While at people’s Production House, Mafomemeh was radio reporter and co-host of Global Movements Urban Struggles-GMUS on WBAI Radio. GMUS was a show that tackled various issues facing various communities in New York City and around the United States. Having lived through many challenging experiences and seeing people going through them everyday, Mafomemeh is passionate about telling stories that matter. She is fulfilling her childhood dream of telling ordinary people’s stories that impact their lives and help to inspire others. I hope you have a great time here on BNN and find something to take with you even if it is just a good laugh! Please, do not forget to subscribe to/sign up for the newsletter with your e-mail address to receive notifications of new posts. Please, also show me some love by sharing the link to the site.   Also check out my personal blog at Talking Point With Florence where you can also see the “MORE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME” blog post of November 2, 2013. 
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Florence Mafomemeh Administrator
ABOUT FLORENCE MAFOMEMEH – FOUNDER, OWNER AND EDITOR OF BNN Florence Mafomemeh is the founder, owner and editor of Black Nation News – BNN Mafomemeh is a multimedia, backpack journalist and three-time B Free award-winning community video producer. She produces long and short form video and audio stories and writes news for broadcast and online media. She is very passionate about stories that impact the lives of ordinary people.  A native of Cameroon in West Africa, Mafomemeh wanted to become a journalist since the time she was in secondary school. As a news junkie, she realized that news hardly reach all ordinary people and their stories were not being told. She told herself that she would be a journalist so that she would bring the news to them and give them a voice by telling their stories to the world. Growing up, Mafomemeh watched, read and listened to a lot of national and international news and used much of her pocket allowance to buy international news magazines like Time and Complete Football International. In order to not miss the news, she slept with a small radio under her pillow and usually left a tape for news to be recorded for her when she was not at home. Currently living in New York City, Mafomemeh graduated from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY in 2019 with a master’s degree in Journalism. While in school, she produced radio and TV News stories on deadline as a one-man band. She also reported news stories around New York City for the NYCITY News Service. Florence was also a news reporter and co-anchor for 219 West, a TV News Magazine that aired on CUNY-TV. As a field Community video Producer at Brooklyn Free Speech TV, Mafomemeh produces news stories that highlight issues in East New York and New York City. Her stories have had eight B Free Award nominations and three wins – The George Stoney B Free Awards for Social Impact and B-Informed, and The B Free People’s Choice Award. Florence has also freelanced for NYCPolitics.com and was a NYS Election Reporting Fellow with the Center for Community Media at CUNY. Mafomemeh also has a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from CUNY- Brooklyn College, a B.A. in English, and an M.A. in the Literatures in English and Commonwealth nations from the University of Yaounde 1 in Cameroon. She specialized/majored in Caribbean Literature, focusing on the West Indies where she did her dissertation on the works of V.S. Naipaul. She also has certificates in journalism, community news production & reporting, proofreading and editing 101 from New York University-SCPS, People’s Production House and Teacher’s College, Columbia University. While at people’s Production House, Mafomemeh was radio reporter and co-host of Global Movements Urban Struggles-GMUS on WBAI Radio. GMUS was a show that tackled various issues facing various communities in New York City and around the United States. Having lived through many challenging experiences and seeing people going through them everyday, Mafomemeh is passionate about telling stories that matter. She is fulfilling her childhood dream of telling ordinary people’s stories that impact their lives and help to inspire others. I hope you have a great time here on BNN and find something to take with you even if it is just a good laugh! Please, do not forget to subscribe to/sign up for the newsletter with your e-mail address to receive notifications of new posts. Please, also show me some love by sharing the link to the site.   Also check out my personal blog at Talking Point With Florence where you can also see the “MORE YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT ME” blog post of November 2, 2013.