20 year old recently left English side Burnely for Perth Glory in Australia
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
The Botswana Football Association is interested in having the services of 20 year old Botswana-born Australian Brandon Wilson. The central midfielder nicknamed ‘Juan Mata’ mainly for his passing prowess in the middle of the field, was born in Gaborone January 28, 1996 to his Australian parents. Wilson went onto spend his childhood in England and Western Australia before joining Burnley’s U21 side in 2013.
Following a three year successful spell with the U21’s, which saw the player become a regular figure for the English side’s feeder team,the midfielder opted for a move away from the club in search of first team football, and in the process landing a deal with Australian side Perth Glory earlier this month.
Despite a research by Gazette Sport showing that the player has on a single occasion played for the Socceroos (Australia) U20 national team, the BFA have not shied away their interest of having the player represent the Zebras.
In an interview the local FA Chief Executive Officer Kitso Kemoeng, confirmed that they were aware of the player holding Botswana links.
“We do not know much of him, apart from what we have read in the media about him, but we hear he was born here (Botswana) ,” said Kemoeng.
He said despite making attempts to make follow ups, the national team’s technical department were still clueless on the player.
“We had assigned people to make a follow up on it, but as for the technical team, they were all clueless about knowing player. Since the case of Shillinde (Bobby Shillinde who lied about plying for an English League 1 side) BFA have been kind of skeptical in approaching such players,but we definitely have to start somewhere,” added the BFA CEO.
“From here, I will take it upon myself to ask those we had assigned, to give us feedback on how far they have made in following up on the player, because we are interested in every player out there with Botswana links who can add value to our national team,” he ended.
Repeated attempts by the Gazette Sport to reach Wilson for a comment on several platforms proved futile as he never responded.
According to FIFA, a player with dual citizenship, despite having represented one country’s junior teams, can still choose to play for the other country’s senior national side if invited to play.
Should Wilson and the BFA reach a common ground, the player would follow in the footsteps of players such Ghana’s Kevin Prince Boateng and Arsenal midfielder Alex Iwobi who despite playing for Germany and England junior team’s later preferred to represent their African countries at a senior level.