Football and sport in general have been shifting, profoundly, on an opposite stream of the one politics are aligning. For decades the national sides were a reflex of the current national identity shouted out by the far right parties, there were well defined borders and commerce and people didn’t have the mobility that the EU brought. The European idea of a free market, an open common space, which has been copycatted by other regions, in America, in Africa, in Asia. The migration patterns changed and were reinforced, but especially the concept of open borders allowed foreigners to finally settle in and feel truly welcome and part of the host nation, giving their children the pride of belonging to both the ancestry and the present. Only in the 80’s and 90’s were we able to see African descent represent England, Germany and several other European nations. Foreign born players became more regular and this expanded to the original regions. If, at first, the European took advantage of ...