The dream of every footballer is to play for a national team. Some players have about more than one option to choose from, with countries with high profile in football becoming their favorite picks.
Mostly, they play for the country of their parents, country where they were born, country they grew up or, in some instances, country of their grandparents.
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Noam Emeran, is no exception. The 21-year-old Groningen winger, born in the French city of Paray-Le-Monial, has two options: France and Rwanda.
His father, Fritz Emeran Nkusi was born in the French-ruled Island of Guadeloupe which is situated in the Caribbeans and, as a result, he has a French nationality. He, however, represented Rwanda internationally after marrying Noam's mother who is of Rwandan origin.
Emeran's talent has never been doubted. On February 15, 2019, Manchester United paid an amount of 2,000,000 Euros to sign him from French side Amiens.
He rose from the Manchester United U17 team up to the U23 which plays in the Premier League 2 before Gronningen came calling after he had impressed with the Red Devils senior team in preseason in the summer of 2023.
Emeran signed a four year-deal with the Dutch second tier club after they had paid 800,000 Euros to Manchester United.
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Emeran has played seven games for Gronningen so far this season scoring just once as he has been virtually a bench player.
At 21, the youngster undoubtedly needs playing time to continue honing his career. His teammates at United Academy namely Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Hannibal Mejbri are all thriving at Manchester United.
For now, Emeran looks far off from the France senior national team as well as the U21s. He was capped twice for the France U16 level but he is still eligible to switch allegiance.
Rwanda, under Spanish coach Carlos Alos Ferrer, made frantic efforts to get Emeran to feature for Amavubi but it didn't yield any results.
But, with doors always open in Amavubi, the youngster will definitely need Rwanda and might be ready to answer the country's invite if coach Frank Spittler assembles his charges during Rwanda's next fixtures of the 2026 world cup qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho.
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Rwanda now looks very much attractive since finishing 2023 sitting top of Group B which also includes giants Nigeria and South Africa.
Choosing to play for Rwanda will definitely be an advantage for Emeran as he will be assured of adequate playing time, in a development that could positively affect his development at club level and above all, you can't rule out that he stands a chance to make history with Amavubi as the country leads Group B in the World Cup qualifiers. .
From all indications, Emeran's chances of representing France look slimmer as mostly players playing in the youth teams of first tier clubs or regular players of big second tier teams in big leagues are considered.
The ball is now in Emeran's own hands. He has the chance of excelling with Rwanda just like Hakim Sahabo has done.
Playing for Rwanda will even be a big honor to both of his parents.
