1976_Child Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 The thread about Kenya got me thinking. We have many, many West African players playing in the English leagues but off the top of my head I can't think of any from East Africa. Anyone think of any? And why is it that West African players are abundant but East Africans get looked over? Possibly because of the French influence in the West African countries? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Bald_Si Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Assume you don't include Egypt in your assessment...... The reason is simple - the East side of Africa is much, much less developed than the Western side. Simple case of fewer opportunities for people that live there, football leagues aren't developed etc. As an aside, how is this Saints related? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976_Child Posted 12 November, 2011 Author Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Assume you don't include Egypt in your assessment...... The reason is simple - the East side of Africa is much, much less developed than the Western side. Simple case of fewer opportunities for people that live there, football leagues aren't developed etc. As an aside, how is this Saints related? Egypt is not really East Africa. East Africa is really just Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and for the purpose of this discussion Rawanda, Burundi and maybe as far south as Malawi and Mozambique. Having worked in Tanzania, I agree that the leagues are not well formed etc but football is still a very popular game. I just wonder if there has ever been scouts visiting some of those clubs which are established. (and, no it is not directly Saints related but we are on an international break so humour me) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Secret Site Agent Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Egypt is not really East Africa. East Africa is really just Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and for the purpose of this discussion Rawanda, Burundi and maybe as far south as Malawi and Mozambique. Having worked in Tanzania, I agree that the leagues are not well formed etc but football is still a very popular game. I just wonder if there has ever been scouts visiting some of those clubs which are established. (and, no it is not directly Saints related but we are on an international break so humour me) Of course it's saints related. We need to check these areas out for new players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Bald_Si Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Egypt is not really East Africa. East Africa is really just Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and for the purpose of this discussion Rawanda, Burundi and maybe as far south as Malawi and Mozambique. Having worked in Tanzania, I agree that the leagues are not well formed etc but football is still a very popular game. I just wonder if there has ever been scouts visiting some of those clubs which are established. (and, no it is not directly Saints related but we are on an international break so humour me) Consider yourself humoured! I imagine that, as a direct consequence of what was said above, many clubs don't bother putting resources into scouting these countries, certainly not directly, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noodles34 Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 cause they get better paid as Pirates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidthesquid Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 There is a physical element to it. Maybe stereotyping on a vast scale, but think of West Africans as sprinters, East Africans as distance runners. Different build, different attributes, but size and strength, rather than stamina are what is needed for football. I'm sure there are cultural/geographical differences too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OVER THE HILL Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Zimbabwe is in east Africa and there is somebody, who calls himself a footballer, not far from us - Benjani Mwaruwari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Martini Posted 12 November, 2011 Share Posted 12 November, 2011 There's one that popped up into my head straight away but it is quite strange that not more players from Eastern Africa play in Europe. Its not a lack of interest, I read an article about football in Kenya some time ago and the interest in mainly English football was huge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1976_Child Posted 12 November, 2011 Author Share Posted 12 November, 2011 Zimbabwe is in east Africa and there is somebody, who calls himself a footballer, not far from us - Benjani Mwaruwari NO. Zimbabwe is not East Africa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsland Red Posted 13 November, 2011 Share Posted 13 November, 2011 Having visited Kenya, the lack of a transport infrastructure would make a national league very difficult as travel times on short journeys are often significantly increased by random road blocks, accidents , spillages, river floods etc. The lack of wealth would make a football pitch and it's ongoing maintenance difficult. The lack of electricity would also be a problem. East Africa is also an area living on cash bungs etc to get by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captain sensible Posted 13 November, 2011 Share Posted 13 November, 2011 There is one from Kenya......although a naturalised Swede. its Martin....surname escapes me. Will probably be playing at Wembley on Tuesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMikey Posted 14 November, 2011 Share Posted 14 November, 2011 The Swedish leagues are full of Kenyan players - Inter Milan have a Kenyan midfielder called McDonald Mariga (HCDAJFU) who used to play in the Swedish leagues and earned himself a big money move to Italy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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