The World Cup’s Imported Talent
A few pictures of the squads without their immigrant players have been circulating the web since the World Cup 2014 started last Thursday. Some squads are loaded with imported talent, like Switzerland and France, while others have stayed true to their roots, like Brazil and Colombia.
But who are those immigrant players and where are they from? Have a look here:
Group A
Brazil
All natives
Croatia
5: Vedran Ćorluka – Bosnia
9: Nikica Jelavić – Herzegovina
11: Darijo Srna – Bosniak father
20: Mateo Kovačić – Bosnia
Mexico
10: Giovani dos Santos – Brazilian Father
Cameroon
All natives
Group B
Spain
19: Diego Costa – Brazil
21: David Silva – Canary Islands
Netherlands
4: Bruno Martins Indi – Guinea-Bissau
6: Nigel de Jong – Suriname
8: Jonathan de Guzmán – Jamaica and Philippines
20: Georginio Wijnaldum – Afro-Surinamese decent
Chile
All natives
Australia
4: Tim Cahill – Ireland and Samoan Islands
14: James Troisi – Italy and Greek
19: Ryan McGowan – Scotland
23: Mark Bresciano – Italy and Croatia
Group C
Colombia
All natives
Greece
All natives
Cote d’Ivoire
1: Boubacar Barry – Guinea
Japan
All natives
Group D
Uruguay
1: Fernando Muslera – Argentina
Costa Rica
All natives
England
11: Danny Welbeck – Ghana
19: Raheem Sterling – Jamaica
Italy
5: Thiago Motta – Brazil
9: Mario Balotelli – Ghana
Group E
Switzerland
8: Gökhan Inler – Turkey
9: Haris Seferović – Bosnia and Herzegovina
10: Granit Xhaka – Albania
11: Valon Behrami – Albania
13: Ricardo Rodríguez – Spain and Chile
18: Admir Mehmedi – Albania
19: Josip Drmić – Croatia
20: Johan Djourou – Cote d’Ivoire
23: Xherdan Shaqiri – Albania
Ecuador
All natives
France
3: Patrice Evra – France
4: Raphaël Varane – Martinique
5: Mamadou Sakho – Mamadou Sakho
8: Mathieu Valbuena – Spain
10: Karim Benzema – Algeria
12: Rio Mavuba – Angola
14: Blaise Matuidi – Angola
18: Moussa Sissoko – Mali
19: Paul Pogba – Guinea and Congo
Honduras
All natives
Group F
Argentina
All natives
Bosnia and Herzegovina
All natives
Iran
All natives
Nigeria
All natives
Group G
Germany
6: Sami Khedira – Tunisia
8: Mesut Ozil – Turkey
10: Lukas Podolski – Poland
20: Jerome Boateng – Ghana
Portugal
2: Bruno Alves – Brazil
3: Pepe – Brazil
17: Nani – Cape Verde
Ghana
All natives
USA
11: Alejandro Bedoya – Colombia
17: Jozy Altidore – Haiti
Group H
Belgium
4: Vincent Kompany – Congol
6: Axel Witsel – Martinique
9: Romelu Lukaku – Congo
9: Marouane Fellaini – Morocco
17: Divock Origi – Kenya
19: Dembélé – Mali
22: Nacer Chadli – Morocco
Algeria
23: Raïs M’Bolhi – Congo
Russia
19: Aleksandr Samedov – Azerbaijan
South Korea
All natives
WE SAID THIS: Check out Coming at You Like a Dark Horse: The Five Squads Most Likely to Surprise You at the World Cup!
