The genuine minnows XI
Earlier this year I interviewed James Charles Mack III, the captain of the 207th-ranked US Virgin Islands.
Mack had recently signed with the Albion Park White Eagles in Australia’s Illawarra Premier League for what is the latest chapter in an eclectic career which has seen him ply his trade in the United States, France, Finland, Iceland and New Zealand.
I love the unique and more unexplored stories in football, such as Mack’s, as opposed to the rich and ravenous nature of top-tier ‘elite’ European football.
This article first started being written while I was matching a UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and RB Leipzig, but is now being published in the week after the failed European Super League coup — a competition which would have created a greater chasm between the haves and have nots in the world’s game.
With this in mind, I decided to look through the squad of the bottom 50 FIFA ranked nations and put together the best possible starting 11.
The rule I set was any one country can only have one player in the side.
It’s based on the FIFA rankings from 7 April, 2021 where Grenada are ranked 160th and San Marino are ranked 210th.
Spoiler, while Mack was in contention, he ultimately just missed the cut.
Goalkeeper | Benjamin Büchel | Liechtenstein (186) / FC Vaduz (Swiss Super League)
Benjamin Büchel debuted for Liechtenstein as a teenager more than a decade ago and in the time since he has been on the books of English clubs Bournemouth and Oxford United.
Büchel joined Liechtensteinen club FC Vaduz (who are a part of the Swiss pyramid) in 2018 after the retirement of Blue-Reds legend Peter Jehle with the 31-year-old also becoming his nation’s undisputed number one.
Last season Büchel helped the Residenzlers to promotion back to the Swiss Super League.
Left-back | Zarek Valentin | Puerto Rico (178) / Houston Dynamo (American Major League Soccer)
US-born Zarek Valentin was first called up for Puerto Rico in 2016 but is yet to feature for the Blue Hurricane though it’s expected he will feature during the current World Cup qualifiers.
The 29-year-old has more than 150 appearances in the MLS as well as a couple of seasons with FK Bodø/Glimt where he was a part of the side that won promotion from the Norwegian First Division to the top-flight Eliteserien.
The Houston Dynamo fullback has 33 caps for the United States at underage level.
Centre-back | Lindsay Rose | Mauritius (172) / Aris Thessaloniki (Greek Super League)
Lindsey Rose has previously been a fringe player at French giants Lyon but since 2019 he’s been a regular for Greek top-tier club Aris Thessaloniki where he has featured in the Europa League.
Though born in France, Rose played for Mauritius at under-17s level before being called up to various French underage squads.
However, in 2018, he became a full international for Les Dodos in a 1–0 friendly win against Macau.
Centre-back | Alexandru Epureanu | Moldova (177) / İstanbul Başakşehir (Turkish Süper Lig)
Perhaps the most credentialed player in this side, Alexandru Epureanu has played in the top flight of either Russia or Turkey since 2010.
The veteran defender has been with reigning Turkish champions İstanbul Başakşehir since 2014, having played nearly 200 matches for the side including their 2–1 win against Manchester United in this season’s Champions League.
Epureanu debuted for Moldova as a 20-year-old and earnt his 100th cap in a 4–1 defeat to Israel in March.
Left-back | Matthew Briggs | Guyana (165) / Vejle Boldklub (Danish Superliga)
At 16 years and 68-days old, Matthew Briggs was the youngest player to ever play in the English Premier League when he debuted for Fulham in 2007 — a record broken by Harvey Elliott of Liverpool last season.
Briggs has 30 caps for England at underage level and has spent a majority of his career playing up and down the English pyramid with the likes of Watford, Millwall and Colchester United.
In 2019, he joined Danish second division club HB Køge where he did enough to be signed by Superliga side Vejle Boldklub.
The left-back has 12 caps for the Golden Jaguars after first playing for them in 2015.
Central midfield — Alexander McQueen — Grenada (160) / Barnet (English National League)
Alexander McQueen came through the Tottenham Hotspur academy before being released to English fourth-tier side Carlisle United in 2015.
The defender-come-midfielder had a stint in the Finnish lower leagues before coming back to England with Dagenham & Redbridge and his current side Barnet.
McQueen made his debut for the Spice Boys in 2017 in a 2–2 friendly draw with Trinidad and Tobago.
Central midfield | Mitch Cooper | Vanuatu (164) / Hume City (Victorian National Premier League — Australia)
Mitch Cooper, or to give him his full name (according to Wikipedia), Mitch Steven Baggio Cooper is the youngest player to ever captain an Australian A-League club when at 17, and on debut, he led out Gold Coast United against Melbourne Heart in bizarre circumstances which you can read about here.
Cooper played 39 games in the A-League for United and then the Newcastle Jets before dropping into the National Premier League where he has featured for the likes of Green Gully and now Hume City.
Despite being born in Port Vila, Cooper played for Australia at under-17s and under-20s level.
However, the midfielder made his full international debut for his country of birth in 2019 and he would go on to score four goals in an 11–0 win against Samoa in the Pacific Games that year.
Attacking midfield | David Browne | Papua New Guinea (166) / HJK Helsinki (Finnish Veikkausliiga)
David Browne is the first Papua New Guinean to play in a top-flight European league having joined Finnish powerhouse HJK Helsinki in 2020.
Browne made a name for himself with Auckland City, winning the Oceania Champions League with them as a teenager in 2013, 2014 and 2015 as well as coming third in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2014.
This led to contracts with Dutch Eredivisie clubs PEC Zwolle and FC Groningen between 2015 and 2018 but he wasn’t able to crack the first team which led to him rejoining the Navy Blues in New Zealand.
Browne has three caps for PNG and is one of just two players based outside the country.
Right wing | Onel Hernandez | Cuba (181) / Norwich City (English Championship)
Onel Hernandez has over 100 appearances for English second division club Norwich City having joined the Canaries in 2018.
Prior to moving to East Anglia, Hernandez plied his trade in Germany, having played more than 150 games across spells at Arminia Bielefeld, Werder Bremen II, Wolfsburg II and Eintracht Braunschweig.
Hernandez has one cap for the Germany under-18s but was still eligible to play for Cuba — his country of birth.
Political reasons blocked Hernandez for playing for the Lions of the Caribbean in 2018, however, he was finally able to make his full debut in a two recent World Cup qualifiers in Guatemala — the second, against Curaçao, yielded his first international goal.
Striker | Nick Blackman | Barbados (162) / Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israeli Premier League)
English-born Nick Blackman came through at Macclesfield Town in 2006 before having stints at a host of clubs in England and Scotland.
It wasn’t until he joined then Premier League side Reading in 2013 that he became a regular, nailing down a spot over four seasons at the Royals.
While at Derby County, he was loaned to Maccabi Tel Aviv where he scored 10 goals in 31 games and after playing with Spanish side Sporting de Gijón the following season, he was signed by the Israeli giants.
In 2015, Blackman said he was eligible to play for England, Barbados, the Netherlands, Poland or Israel and he ultimately ended up playing for the Bajan Tridents — the country where his father was born.
He has three goals in five games for Barbados.
Left wing | Nahki Wells | Bermuda (168) / Bristol City (English Championship)
Nahki Wells was a star from a young age in the Bermuda Premier Division, so much so he even offered a contract by Dutch powerhouse Ajax.
A move to the Netherlands didn’t eventuate with Wells eventually joining English non-league side Eccleshill United in 2010 but by the end of 2014, he had played 112 games for Bradford City, scoring 53 goals.
The pacey forward has also enjoyed goalscoring success with Huddersfield Town and Queens Park Rangers.
Wells has 12 goals in 19 caps for the Gombey Warriors and he needs nine more to overtake current record holder and Manchester City icon Shaun Goater.
