"Wellcome" videos are a matter of routine during the hot summer months, there are many of them and very few special ones, however the video posted this week by Iniaki Williams managed to grab the public attention because it had one different element.
With a contract extended until 2028 at Athletic Bilbao it is quite clear that the great winger has no plans to move to a team any time soon, which has left the team interested.
"I think it's my time to connect to the roots," Williams announced in a one-minute video he posted on social media;
"I want to give back to Ghana something of what she gave me and my family, so starting today I am a Ghana national team player. I commit to giving everything every minute, from now on I am another black star (the nickname of the Ghana national team, DH)".
At 28, with 272 appearances in the Bilbao uniform and 233 consecutive league games since April 2016, Williams - whose parents are deranged - is a very significant reinforcement for the African team that will participate in the World Cup in Qatar.
Is the icing on the cake of the big recruitment project, but there is also whipped cream.
Apart from him, Ghana have announced the citizenship of four other players with local roots: Tariq Lampetti from Brighton who played for all of England's youth teams, Stefan Ambrosius and Ransford Import from Hamburg who represented Germany until the age of 21 and Patrick Pepper from Darmstadt.
In addition, Ghana managed to convince Muhammad Salisu of Southampton to represent the team, after refusing to do so for years due to personal considerations.
"I am one of the Black Stars" - Inaki Williams is ready to feature for Ghana.
Mohammed Salisu ☑️
Inaki Williams ☑️
Nico Williams?
Eddie Nketiah ⌛
Callum Hudson-Odoi ⌛
Tariq Lamptey ⌛
pic.twitter.com/uEbMi9nPeQ
- Haruna Mubarak (@FactualMubarak) July 5, 2022
Of course this player load is not accidental.
In the world of football, there has long been a phenomenon known as "Scout Passports" in which teams locate players who are allowed to play for them thanks to these and other roots and begin a recruitment campaign.
A similar move was recently made in Argentina which has gathered a large number of young players from Europe with local roots, and now it is happening in Ghana.
In fact, the "Black Stars" team has been working on the matter for a long time and employs scouts spread across Europe, but it seems that the ticket it obtained for the World Cup in Qatar has accelerated the processes.
In the case of Williams, for example, it was reported back in 2016 that a Spanish scout employed by Ghana approached him in an attempt to bring him to the African team.
A Bilbao player refused, and a few years later even explained: "I was not born or raised there, it seems unfair to me to take the place to someone who is 100% derogatory and connected to the place."
Even in the case of Lampetti the move was not simple.
The English defender debated at length whether to choose England or Ghana, while at the same time the two teams exerted great pressure on the young player to choose them.
It is estimated that the fact that Ghana will play in the World Cup along with Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea is what hastened the decision of the undecided.
At the same time, there are a few other things that have affected.
For both Williams and Lampetti, parents played a significant role in the choice.
Only recently did a Bilbao player fly to Ghana with his mother and brother Nico, and according to Spanish media this trip and the encounter with his parents ’roots greatly influenced the choice.
Tariq Lampetti.
Will Brighton star succeed in the national uniform?
For Brighton's defender, it was his father, Ahmed, who promoted the move.
After convincing his son, the father traveled to Ghana for a meeting with the association's president Kurt-Edwin Simon Oreko and the two shook hands in front of the cameras.
The president of the association is primarily responsible for this move, and to that end he recently added Chris Houghton, a former Brighton coach, Norwich and Nottingham Forest, as a professional adviser who, among other things, will help persuade European players to come.
For Ghana, something had to be done after the jarring failure of the last African Championship.
The team lost to the Comoros and Morocco, finished last at home early and was disgraced.
To prevent a similar fiasco in the World Cup, many associations have worked hard to recruit this player and now there are those who fantasize about the lineup that can be put together and unprecedented success in Qatar.
But alongside the enthusiasts, there are of course the coolers.
According to them, the massive citizenship is like putting a band-aid on a broken hand.
That instead of taking care of promoting local young players, they bring in outside players and hope for the best.
According to local media reports, these criticisms fall on deaf ears.
Ghana is not content with this civilized gang - it wants more.
Were we wrong?
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