MLSsoccer.com's "Under African Skies" series is a look at what the first World Cup held on the African continent means to Major League Soccer's African players. We continue with the New England Revolution's Sainey Nyassi and Kenny Mansally, both from Gambia.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In a global sense, New England Revolution midfielders Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi are just like any other pair of distant observers anxiously awaiting the first World Cup on African soil.
That observation, however, doesn't tell the whole story. Mansally and Nyassi represent two members of a growing contingent of African players making their living in MLS and watching with a keen eye on the developments back on their home continent.
Mansally and Nyassi, both 21 and both frequent members of the Gambian national team, can't wait to see the impact the first African World Cup will have on the already soccer-crazed continent.
“In Africa, the most popular sport is soccer,” Mansally said. “As you know, this World Cup is coming to South Africa and we've been watching the whole way through when it was in Europe and South America. This time, it's the first time it's coming to Africa. I think it's going to be a great World Cup because people are ready for it. The teams from northern Africa and western Africa are ready for it. It's going to be good for a lot of African countries.”
Club commitments will keep Mansally and Nyassi from returning to Gambia to share the experience in their native land, but the World Cup break will lessen their workload and allow them to discuss the events with their friends back home and around the world.
“Sometimes when the game is on, we may call home after the game through Skype to see what is going on and how people are celebrating it back home,” Nyassi said. “That's how we'll get involved, through the internet.”
By the time the World Cup moves on to Brazil in 2014, Mansally and Nyassi hope to get involved in a more active way: by taking the field for their native country. Gambia has never qualified for the World Cup or even the African Cup of Nations, but the team has made recent strides under the guidance of coach Paul Put. They expect to challenge for a spot in the 2012 Cup of Nations, slated for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Nyassi said the first African World Cup provides additional motivation as the Gambians attempt to reach their first major tournament.
“Countries like Gambia and others didn't qualify, but it does encourage us more to push more and fight more to qualify for the next World Cup or Nations Cup,” Nyassi said. “Our national team hasn't qualified once since we started, but, hopefully, this will encourage a lot of us to fight more so we can qualify at least one World Cup or a Cup of Nations.”
Until Mansally and Nyassi can erase the past by leading Gambia to unprecedented success in the future, Mansally said the duo will do what every non-participating player is doing: Track the tournament and aspire.
“We'll sit here around the TV watching because we didn't qualify,” Mansally said. “The more you watch, the more you [learn]. Next time when you go for the qualifiers, you're just going to fight. That is the highest level for a player, when you play for a World Cup. Everybody wants to play for a World Cup.”
