England can breath new life with Saido Berahino scoring their goals

In what is a footballing story and an immigrant’s tale, Saido Berahino could make his England debut Saturday.

The African-born striker is the leading English scorer in the Premier League, a quick, direct attacker who has the potential to become the next world-class British centre forward.

He is also a man who was born in Burundi, a former refugee and asylum seeker who has risen to prominence at a time when immigration has a particular presence on the political agenda.

Football does not exist in a vacuum and, while Berahino has not chosen the role, he has become an advertisement for a compassionate policy towards those in need.

This comes at a time when the anti-immigration UK Independence Party is gaining in support in the polls and threatening to reshape British ­politics.

Berahino is a West Bromwich Albion footballer, plying his trade in an area where race relations have long been ­contentious.

West Brom’s home ground, The Hawthorns, is in Smethwick, not far from Birmingham.

It is where, in the 1964 general election, the Labour Party’s shadow foreign secretary, Patrick Gordon Walker, was unseated in a vote that bucked the national trend.

Taking his place was Conservative Party candidate Peter Griffiths, whose campaign featured the slogan: “If you want [an African] for a neighbour, vote ­Labour.”

Four years later, Enoch Powell, a member of parliament for nearby Wolverhampton South-West, made his infamous “Rivers of Blood” speech, arguing against immigration.

He said: “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding; like the Roman, I seem to see ‘the River Tiber foaming with much blood’.”

A decade later, West Brom were one of the pioneers in the integration of black players; at a time when they were comparative rarities, they fielded a trio.

Collectively, Brendan Batson, Laurie Cunningham and Cyrille Regis were branded “the Three Degrees” and were subjected to racial abuse by fans of other clubs.

They were, though, hugely popular among Albion fans.

It helped that, while Batson was a defender, Cunningham and Regis were explosive, exciting attackers who made Albion one of the most watchable sides in the country.

Regis was the third black player and the last West Brom forward to appear for England.

Three decades on, Berahino is set to become the next: perhaps as a substitute against Slovenia on Saturday or, more probably, in Tuesday’s friendly with ­Scotland.

Like Regis, who was born in French Guiana, Berahino has alternatives but has chosen to play for England, and it is understandable that he feels an allegiance to the ­country.

He left Burundi after a civil war in which his father died and arrived in England separately from his mother, Liliane; DNA tests were required before they were reunited.

Then they moved to Birmingham and a new life began that has taken them in directions they could not have expected.

Berahino, who arrived unable to speak English, is committed to representing England.

“It will be a very emotional experience for me,” he told national newspapers last week. “If selected, I will play with all my heart.

“Mentally, I couldn’t be any more prepared, the experiences I have been through in life have made me strong. Nothing I get put through will be able to break me down.”

From others, that may sound like bravado but, given his background, it rings true.

He has played for England at every level from under 16 to U21, helping them to qualify for next summer’s European Championships.

Having joined West Brom’s academy at 11 years old, he made his breakthrough after loan spells at Northampton, Brentford and Peterborough, but is unlikely to return to any of those clubs soon.

He has started 22 Premier League games, already has scored 12 goals and has been linked with Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester United.

West Brom are trying to tie him to a longer and more-lucrative contract but it may merely be a case of delaying an inevitable departure.

Grander stages are already beckoning with the first precipitated by Roy Hodgson, who was his manager at West Brom and gave Berahino his first international call-up.

“I think it’s a really nice story,” the England coach said. “It’s up to Saido to show he can make this step up from his own level, U21, to the senior level.”

To return to the original theme, imports have often been required to plug gaps in the labour market.

The England team are so short of strikers that Rickie Lambert, who is yet to score this season and has had a solitary league start at Liverpool, remains in the squad.

With Daniel Sturridge injured, Lambert is the only back-up to Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck – sooner or later, an opportunity beckons for the unlikely 21-year-old England attacker from a tiny country in central Africa.

sports@thenational.ae

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