Six footballers, Mohammed Abdellaoue, Alexander Tettey, Daniel Braaten, Vadim Demidov, Tarik Elyounoussi and Joshua King have parents or relatives from different parts of the world.

This is the first time in Norway’s football history when so many players were born here but have different ethnicities and play on the national team, reports NRK.

“It’s just good. This is also talent who’s grown up in different parts of the country”, said Joshua King, whose father is from Gambia.

Author Aslak Nore, who wrote the book ‘Ekstremistan’ (‘The Extremist’) which deals with Norway’s social democracy and immigration’s challenges and benefits, declared, “The book is about the fact that Norway is becoming a progressively more multicultural country.”

“Moreover, football is a fun example. This national team choice marks a real breakthrough for footballers with immigrant background,” he said, pointing out the importance of the move in increasing immigrants’ acceptance in society.

“It’s nice to see that saying one is patriotic to Norway does not just apply to people with light skin and Norwegian grandparents and that more wish to take part in a Norwegian community,” Mr Nore concludes.

Mohammed Abdellaoue (Moroccan parents, born in Norway) , Alexander Tettey (born in Ghana), Daniel Braaten (Nigerian father, born in Norway), Vadim Demidov (born in the former Soviet Union), Tarik Elyounoussi (born in Morocco) and Joshua King are playing against Iceland, Friday.

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