Cymru and Africa (pt.8) – Algeria, Burundi, Tanzania & Ethiopia
Part 8 of our blog series looking at links between Cymru and African nations. Previous blogs have visited:
- pt. 7 – Angola, Benin and Uganda
- pt. 6 – Gabon and Sierra Leone
- pt. 5 – Morocco
- pt. 4 – Zimbabwe, Guinea and Eritrea
- pt. 3 – Gambia and Egypt
- pt. 2 – AFCON23 hosts Cote D’Ivoire
- pt. 1 – Tunisia
Algeria
Idriss Saadi – Then Cardiff manager Russell Slade stated that the club had been scouting Saadi for several months: he’s “strong, powerful and technically good”. In his first season he played for only 21 minutes in two appearances before being shunted on loan to Vincent Tan’s K.V. Kortrijk in Belgium (where Isaak Davies is currently playing). He was fit enough to make his Algerian debut at the end of that season in a friendly against Guinea and has won one further cap. He was later released and joined Strasbourg.
Hamza Bencherif – already an Algerian under 20 international Bencherif was signed by Gary Mills for Wrexham at the start of the 2016-17 season. He played regularly but after Mills was sacked in October 2016 and quickly took over at York City, he poached Bencherif on loan in the trasnfer window before signing permanently.
Burundi
Marco Weymans – possibly the only Burundian to have ever been a member of Cardiff City’s youth squad. Weymans was a regular in Belgium’s age-grade teams before switching to the land of his mother in 2020, by when he was now playing in Sweden.
Joel Bembo-Leta – Congolese-born Leta spent part of 2014-15 season at Colwyn Bay in a nomadic career spent predominantly around the north of England. He declared for Burundi for whom he qualifies via heritage but never won a full cap.
Tanzania
Adi Yussuf – thrice capped Tanzanian international Yussuf – born on the island of Zanzibar – signed for Wrexham on a season long loan in August 2020. Included in Tanzania’s squad for AFCON 2019, only the second occasion in which they had appeared in the finals, he made his debut in a warm-up friendly and made a substitute appearance in the final group game as the Taifa Stars crashed out winless at the first hurdle. Yussuf scored six goals in 18 appearances before the loan was terminated and he joined National League rivals Chesterfield. Now at Banbury United in the sixth tier.
Ethiopia
Amin Ahmed – winger Ahmed signed for Aberystwyth Town from Macclesfield after trials with other Cymru Premier clubs such as The New Saints and Cefn Druids. Ahmed had been on the fringes of the Ethiopian national team but has yet to win a cap. Last seen playing for Buckley Town.
