The Diaspora Returns
Iñaki Williams and Tariq Lamptey are part of Ghana’s coach Otto Addo’s 29-man squad that will play against Brazil in Le Havre on September 23 as part of the Black Stars’ World Cup preparation.
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C right-back Tariq Lamptey switched his allegiance from England to Ghana and will be in contention for Black Stars forthcoming friendlies.
Athletico Bilbao’s forward Iñaki Williams will also be in contention after switching allegiance from Spain to Ghana.
These are two high profile players from the African diaspora that Ghana has convinced and invited to represent the Black Stars.
Black Stars Return
This will be Ghana’s return to the FIFA World Cup after Black Stars missed out at the last edition in Russia.
Ghana Black Stars secured their fourth World cup appearance, having participated in 2006, 2010 and 2014 in Germany, South Africa and Brazil respectively.
Ghana is in Group H of the World Cup in Qatar, a group that pits them alongside Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea, one of the toughest groups in the competition.
Lamptey’s Story: London to Ghana via Brighton
Tariq Lamptey was born in London and has represented England at both U18 and U21 level.
England had been keen not to lose the 21-year-old. However, he requested to be left out of England’s Under-21 squad for the European Championship qualifiers when Ghana came calling.
Tariq Lamptey started with grassroots football at Larkspur Rovers before being scouted by Chelsea. After developing through Chelsea’s academy system and earning a Premier League debut in 2019, Lamptey moved to Brighton & Hove Albion F.C for gaining more playing time.
In Brighton Tariq came into the limelight. A host of impressive performances during last season’s Premier League accelerated Ghana’s desire to get him to play for the Black Stars ahead of the World Cup.
I’m really excited to start this journey and looking forward to representing Ghana. I can’t wait to play in front of you amazing fans. Thank you for the warm welcome let’s goo”, Tariq said on an Instagram post in anticipation for his first appearance for Ghana.
Iñaki’s Story: The Sahara to Basque Legacy
Iñaki was born and raised in the Basque region of Spain after his Ghanaian parents made the deadly journey to Europe through the Sahara desert.
The 28-year-old attacker has played his whole football career in Spain, starting with clubs in the lower leagues before joining Athletic Bilbao in La Liga.
Iñaki grew up wanting to play for Spain and did so at youth level. He made a senior debut under Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque back in 2016 in a 3–1 friendly victory against Bosnia.
After his senior debut, he didn’t get another opportunity into the Spanish national team. Iñaki would anyway go on to have an illustrious career in the Spanish La Liga. Iñaki Williams eventually broke the record for the most consecutive appearances in La Liga in October 2021.
Breaking the record made him knock Juanan Larranaga of Basque rivals Real Sociedad off the top spot, which earned him even more popularity among the club’s fans. Iñaki Williams has now made 344 appearances for Athletic scoring 74 goals.
When The African Diaspora Returns, it echoes memories of painful journeys of many daughters and sons of Africa across land and sea.
Cultural Heritage
Tariq Lamptey and Iñaki Williams are players in different stages of their careers. One is a young player on the rise and the other looking to cement a footballing legacy.
Iñaki’s words on finding his origins echoes voices of millions of people of African descent and the yearning for stronger connection to the motherland.
“The moment has come for me to find my origins within myself and with Africa and Ghana, which means so much to me and my family. I want to return a small part of everything it has given to us…” Iñaki said in a social media video after switching to play for Ghana.
Tariq and Iñaki are continuing the movement of the African diaspora players returning to represent their countries of origin. The African diaspora will continue to have a major influence on the future of football and sports. As the African diaspora returns, Africa will have more talents to compete at the World Cup and at the world stage.
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This article was original published on Sep 9, 2022 on medium for Kaazi.
Written by Nana Yaw Oppong-Mensah
Nana Yaw Oppong-Mensah is the founder of Kaazi, a startup and community mentoring footballers and connecting them with recruiters.
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