Gunnar Nielsen’s Premier League career is short.
It’s actually very brief: lasted 17 minutes. Goalkeeper was introduced to Manchester City’s late substitute against Arsenal in 2010 as Shea gave a shoulder injury aggravated by him a week ago in vain for Paul Scholes at Manchester Derby ) the late champion suffered a dive.
But this is a big deal. Those 17 minutes represented the first (and only) of the Faroe Islands players in the Premier League. It was a big deal and the local radio station couldn’t even wait until the game was over to call his brother for some reaction. Happily, Nielsen keeps a clean sheet, avoiding the absolutely awkward prospect of his brother having to live comments on embarrassing mistakes.
Nelson said now: “He was so nervous that he couldn’t say a word.” “He just handed the phone to my sister.”
Nielsen is part of an unusual small club of players, a group recently joined by Uzbekistan defender Abdukodir Khusanov. Premier League.
Neilsen’s only Premier League match in April 2010 (Neil Tingle – PA image via Getty Images)
So, as you can imagine, it was big news for Faroes when Nielsen showed up. Television and radio coverage are a given, but his almost literal 15 minutes is the topic of the town. “I talked to the bouncing machine in a nightclub I knew,” Nelson said. “The only thing everyone talked about that Saturday night was how I showed up in the Premier League, he said.
“It was a big deal when it happened. I remember people were sending me photos, texting me and calling me – to this day, people I met still say exactly when they were going up and remember them at the exact time they were in where.”
Khusanov is the second player to join the club this season, after Ipswich Town striker Ali Al-Hamadi became the first to play against Liverpool this season He became the first Iraqi man in the opening game.
For sons Tangke (Suryame), Ali al-Alhabsi (Oman) client creator), Hamza Peace (Bangladhes), Dylan (Dylan), Banglan (Malta, Freedom , “Meather” and Zesh Rehman (Pustish).
By definition, the countries on this list are not traditional football powers. Given that they were born and raised in a larger or larger football environment, some players have a little step but play for another country due to family connections. Amat, Choudhury, Rehman, Etheridge, Hernandez, Firpo, Mendez-Laing, Higginbotham and Donk fall into this category.
But some others grew up in their surroundings where there was no role model at all to show them the path to one of a major alliance in Europe. They are pioneers.
Nelson told sports. “We are closely related to Denmark, so you look up to the players from there, but (without the example of Faroese) hasn’t made it easier. No one in the Premier League has ever been to the Premier League, although some young players have signed in at some Premier League clubs Youth contract, but in this sense, no one looks up to you.”
Wanyama also has no fellow countrymen to show him the path to the Premier League, but he is lucky that at least he does have some more direct role models, such as his brother McDonald Mariga when Wanyama was 16 years old. Before that, Wanyama followed Mariga to Helsingborgs in Sweden, briefly returned home when his brother returned to Italy, and then correctly embarked on his European journey with Beerschot in Belgium. It also didn’t hurt that his father Noah played for and mentored his father Noah, AFC Leopards in Nairobi.
Wanyama played for Shaun Botterill/Getty Images in 2019
“I grew up in a football family,” Wanyama told sports. “I’ve seen the Premier League before – I grew up watching those games. When I was 11, I already dreamed of being there one day. I love Roy Keane and Paul Scole Paul Scholes.
“My father is a coach, my brother plays: It’s deep. It’s in our blood. I want to play on the biggest stage. I know the Premier League is the toughest league in the world. I know it’s hard to get into it. , this inspired me.”
The situation for Etheridge is slightly different. The goalkeeper was born and raised in England and is eligible to play for the Philippines through his mother. He would often go to the Philippines to grow up, but for various reasons he hadn’t come back for years. Then, at the age of 18, his former teammates at Chelsea youth and Philippine International James and Philippine International also suggested he have a place in the team. He made his debut in 2008, has won more than 80 blocks and was appointed captain of the national team in 2022.
Neil Etheridge’s action against Manchester City in 2019 against Cardiff (Oli Scarff/AFP)
“I just feel the connection with the country and people,” Etheridge said from Thailand. “The Philippines is a very proud country. The culture and blood run through you. I’m only 18, but I I saw an opportunity for a country that is not necessarily football-oriented to change. Basketball was the number one sport. At that time, football was not a truly recognized sport.”
He is not kidding. At the time Etheridge was first summoned, they were trapped in 195 in the world, with little record in international competitions. Their top rankings in 111 didn’t seem to be great, but they qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time in 2019 and entered the second round of the 2014 World Cup, the team’s first time playing that far away.
Etheridge achieved most of his achievements before his first Premier League appearance, eventually doing so in 2017 after advancing with Cardiff. “It’s a huge deal,” he said. “Although it’s not as big as the Philippines plays in the NBA, and Manny Pacquiao is a national athlete for a mile in the country. I’m probably being It is considered to be the first Southeast Asian player to participate in the Premier League, not the first Filipino.
“I was able to do a lot of things first. In 2010, we reached the semifinals of the East Asian Cup (AFF Cup) for the first time, when football exploded in the Philippines. Even now 15 years later, it’s still in the baby stage, But I am honored to be football on the map of the country.”
National identity can be a bit complicated, non-binary, sometimes smooth thing, so it is worth providing some parameters: if they were born there and did not represent another country, or if they were already in This country is represented worldwide.
There is some curiosity on the list. The Premier League saw several players born in Suriname and continued to represent the Netherlands (Regi Blinker, Edgar Davids, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink), but the only player representing Surrey Donk was born in the Netherlands.
Some on the roster are not classified as their respective countries in the Premier League. Higginbotham played a few games for Gibraltar, but it was a long distance from his Southampton/Sunderland/Stoke city prevailing. Mendez-Laing’s debut in Gatemala came as he competed in the league with Derby a few years later in his top-tier match with Cardiff.
Danny Higginbotham returns to the 2010 Stoke City match (Mike Egerton/PA image via Getty Images)
Then there are the grey areas, such as former Brighton and Hof Albion midfielder Mahmoud Dahoud, who is seen as some of the only representatives of Syria. Born in Syria and raised in Germany, he played two friendships in 2020 and was therefore considered German when he was in the UK. However, in 2024, he will be loyal to his country of birth and be called to Syria’s team…just withdraw before the actual game. He may still represent them in the future, but we have not counted him yet.
Then there is Equatorial Guinea. Born and raised in Spain, Emilio Nsue played four games for Middlesbrough in the Premier League and played for Stequare Guinea between 2013 and 2024 45 times and won the Golden Boot in the 2023 African Cup of Nations. However, he may not count, as the 2024 FIFA ruled that he has been ineligible.
Back in 2013, the Equatoguinean Football Federation applied for a Spanish peer to allow NSUE to change nationality (he has appeared several competitive appearances for various Spanish youth teams), but the process has some irregularities to say the least. They defaulted on two matches in the 2014 World Cup qualifying due to NSUE’s qualification, but they kept picking him up anyway and played at various intervals over the following decade. Indeed, FIFA seems to have noticed only because of his heroic spirit at AFCON, when they declared his entire international career invalid and invalid.
So… did he count? Did we enter a weird metaphysical area by acting as if the international appearance of Nsue had never happened, rather than administratively, or did we enter a weird metaphysical area? If so, Pedro Obiang, the only other Guinea International, would be the 19th person on that list. But for now, we will be working with two Premier League players on a tangible reality and credit Equatorial Guinea.
Of course, the Premier League is not the pinnacle for everyone. Every player slept on Barclays sheets, and their only wish as a kid was to play in England.
Take Wanyama as an example. “It’s a bigger deal for the Celtics because it’s the team I’ve grown up and supported, especially in the Glasgow Derby,” he said.
For most of these players, participating in the Premier League is a source of personal pride, but hopefully they can be an inspiration and role model they didn’t have when they were young.
Etheridge said: “I don’t want to play my own trumpet, if it’s not for me and my success, there will be a lot of football players who don’t have a career in the game. Many people don’t even know that there is a team in the Philippines, if it’s not my own, And the success I’ve had in the Premier League later in my career that really strengthened our national team. There are a lot of people around the world who decided to play for the Philippines because they now know what the national team in the Philippines is.”
Wanyama added: “If I let young players dream, I am proud that I can play in the Premier League one day. Now everyone wants to be there and they know the door is open to them. They believe they can do it, too. ”
(Top photo: Getty image)
