However, the LOSC striker was born in Brussels. He even wore the Belgium jersey from the U15s to the U19s… before realizing that his hidden dream of one day defending the colors of his dad’s country of origin wasn’t so crazy. Summoned by Diablotins coach Gill Swerts last fall, he politely declined the invitation. His idea was obviously to break away from the Belgian federation and to make eyes at Spain. If nothing has yet been decided at the moment since Luis de la Fuente has not yet selected him, we are already saying that Belgium risks missing out on a great talent. One more.
Of course, it is first good to remember that the Red Devils have been in the opposite situation much more often. In the past, players like Josip Weber, Luis Oliveira, Branko Strupar and Igor De Camargo have accepted Belgian naturalization. While many former (the brothers Mpenza, Fellaini, Kompany, Benteke, Chadli, Kabasele, Dembélé…) and current Devils (Lukaku, Witsel, Doku, Onana, Openda, Lukebakio, Bakayoko, Mangala, Tielemans, Fofana, Al-Dakhil …) favored Belgium rather than their second nationality.
Attractiveness, opportunities and roots
Each case is different. Roots, history and attachment are unique to each person. Born in Senegal, Amadou Onana, for example, absolutely wanted to play for the country in which he spent the majority of his childhood. That Matias Fernandez-Pardo grew up in Belgium and then turned to Spain may be surprising, but the attraction is sometimes difficult to explain. On the other hand, it is certain that the sporting attractiveness of Spain, reigning European champion and which has an incredible generation, is today greater than that of Belgium.
Andreas Pereira, from the youth selections in Belgium to the Seleção: “I refused Belgium several times”
It is with this same ambition in mind that several other dual nationals have turned their backs on the Red Devils in the past. Andreas Pereira (who celebrated his 29th birthday this Wednesday, January 1), born in Duffel and now teammate of Timothy Castagne at Fulham, refused approaches from Belgium several times, hoping to be called up by Brazil. But it was not until June 2024, with the Copa America, that he was finally able to play his first official matches.
Trained in Lustin, Wépion, Namur then at Standard, Eliaquim Mangala (33 years old) could also have accepted a Belgian call-up. The defender, whose career declined after his departure from Manchester City in 2019, favored his French origins. However, he only played eight matches for the Blues and today continues his career at Estoril (Portugal).
They are Belgian, they shine with Lille but they are not Red Devils: the cases of Mukau and Fernandez-Pardo challenge El Khannouss, the future star of Morocco who could have chosen Belgium: “Bilal is already the little one of Ziyech and Hakimi”
When he was coach, Roberto Martinez also suffered failures with Adrien Truffert (23 years old, born in Liège) and Pascal Struijk (25 years old, born in Deurne) who refused selection. Since then, the former has so far only played once with the France team, in 2022, while the latter has never been called up by the Netherlands. Even more recently, Belgium lost the talented Bilal El Khannouss (20 years old) and Ngal’ayel Mukau (20 years old). Despite their obvious potential which would have one day opened the door to the Devils, the two players born and trained in Belgium preferred to return to their roots: Morocco and the DRC.
Finally, it’s difficult not to mention the case of Mehdi Carcela who was twice a Red Devil during friendly matches in 2009, but turned to Morocco two years later, after weighing the pros and cons. This example clearly illustrates the delicate balance between attachment, ambitions and opportunities. This is why the Kayembe, Mata, Bongonda, Dessers, Mmaee or Bastien ended up heading towards their roots, after waiting and examining the situation as a whole. And this is also why the Belgian federation has already worked with great emerging talents like Genko’s Konstantinos Karetsas (17 years old), who is also approached by Greece.
Greece or Belgium for the nugget Konstantinos Karetsas? “I just went to get my Greek passport, nothing more, nothing less”
