Multi-culturalism, latest trend in European teams

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Major European cities, London, Rome, Paris, Berlin and Madrid are living examples of multi-culturalism with a variety of cuisine available, different languages spoken and people crossing frontiers in pursuit of a better standard of living.

This is reflected in the composition of teams in Euro 2012 also. Two decades ago only England, France and Holland had players of African or Caribbean origin in their squad.
At Euro 2012, many more countries have players of African origin in their squad. This trend is being seen for the first time in Eastern European countries also. For instance the Czech Republic right back is Theodore Gebresalisse, the son of an Ethiopian father and Czech mother. Athletics buffs would be alerted by his legendary surname. Haile Gebresalisse of Ethiopia is one of the greatest 10,000 metres runners of all time. He won gold medals in this race in both the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and was four times winner in the biennial World Championships in the last decade of the 20th century.
Theodore is no relation but is of the same genetic disposition. His work-rate is phenomenal, the best in the tournament. In each match, he runs about 12 kilometres. His speedy overlap and low cross led to Czech Republic’s winning goal against Greece on June 12. Similarly, Denmark have a player of Ivory Coast origin their team. He is the promising 19 year old defender Jores Okore. He was born in Ivory Coast but his parent migrated to Denmark in search of a better life. Italy have two players of African descent in their squad, explosive striker Mario Balotelli born to migrant Ghanaian parents and reserve left back Angelo Ogbanna also born in Italy of Nigerian parents.
The Netherlands are as always a multi-cultural team. Defender Khalid Boulharouz and winger Ibrahim Afellay are of Moroccan origin. Left back Jetro Willems at 18 years the youngest player to take the field at an European championship is of Nigerian origin. The Dutch also have a player with an Indian sounding name in their squad, speedy winger Luciano Narsingh. He is not of Asian origin but is from the former Dutch colony of Surinam.
Also some countries, most noticeably Germany, have developed multi-cultural teams, which reflect the recent social history of Europe, the migration of different nationalities in pursuit of employment and enhanced life style.
Midfielder Sami Khedira (Tunisia), playmaker Mesut Ozil (Turkey), defender Jerome Boateng (Ghana), striker Miroslav Klose (Poland) and left midfielder Lukas Podolski (Poland) are all naturalised Germans.
They are second generation migrants who have fitted into the German way of life and benefited from the world-class nationwide youth development schemes and training facilities. Khedira, Ozil, Boateng, Manuel Neur and Matts Hummels were members of the German team that won the European U-21 championships in 2009, trouncing England 4-1 in the final at Sweden. Within a year, national coach Joaquim Lowe selected these players for the senior German team.
The 2009 German U-21 team also included left back Sebastian Boenisch of Polish descent. At the persuasion of Polish coach Francisek Zmuda, the talented Boenisch has opted to play for the country of his forefathers in Euro 2012.