The game of football has a unifying power to bring together players from all backgrounds and the ability to change countless lives for the better.
The sport’s history is littered with the most unlikely origin stories, tales where a youngster can emerge from the favelas to become world beaters.
Saido Berahino burst onto the Premier League scene with West Bromwich Albion in the 2013/14 season, with his winning goal at Old Trafford a highlight, and a goal which capped a remarkable story for the Burundi-born striker.
Berahino on swapping Burundi for Birmingham
Berahino was born in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi in August 1993, two months before the country erupted into a brutal civil war that would rage on for 11 years.
“I wasn’t aware of it, so my surroundings felt normal to me,” the 32-year-old tells FourFourTwo when asked about his early years. “As a kid, I remember collecting plastic bags to make a football because we couldn’t afford one. My dad passed away when I was four and it was only later I learned it was due to the war.”
As the war continued to rage, Berahino would travel alone to the UK to join his mother and siblings in Birmingham.
“It was tough. When I arrived, nobody could get hold of my mum. I had to go to a police station, where they found out her contact details had changed. They eventually got in touch with her, but I was put in a care home while they checked that she really was my mum, doing DNA and blood tests. Thankfully I went to a multicultural school with a lot of black kids. Football was key in making friends, but it took me about eight months to speak English properly.
“Soon after, I was invited to play for my school, which led to a Sunday league team, and then West Brom came in for me when I was 11.”
Berahino would make waves in the Baggies youth sides and soon got the nod from the England set-up, but he would ultimately choose to represent the senior Burundi national side.
“The president of the Burundian FA came to see me when I was 17, but by then I was already playing for the England youth teams,” he continues. “I was called up to the senior England side by Roy Hodgson in 2014 for games against Scotland and Slovenia, but I didn’t get off the bench. I later decided to help Burundi qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, which we did.
“When I was singing the national anthem, I could feel my father’s soul – it made me want to burst into tears. Burundi is a beautiful place, although still behind on things like technology, but we’re working on that. My mum has moved back there as well.”
