Central African Republic: Premier League Nations

29/07/2020

Categories: By Sam Hanys, Feature, Premier League Nations, Recent

Continuing our alphabetical world tour, next up is the Central African Republic. One of the least densely populated African nations, the Central African Republic have never qualified for a World Cup or African Cup of Nations finals tournament.

There is currently no option to filter for Central African players on the Premier League’s player stats page, but we believe that only one player has represented the Central African Republic in the Premier League.

First (and only) Player – Frederic Nimani (Burnley; 2010)

After breaking through the ranks at Monaco and winning eight caps for France’s Under 21s, Frederic Nimani was tipped for big things.

Embed from Getty Images

It’s fair to say that Nimani did not live up to his early career hype. After moving to England with struggling Burnley in desperate need of a consistent source of goals, he made just two goalless substitute appearances as the Clarets were relegated.

Nimani spent further spells in France, Greece, Switzerland and Norway and in 2018, he accepted a call up to the Central African Republic national team, who he was eligible for through his ancestry as he had not made a senior appearance for France.

Records

Most Appearances – Frederic Nimani (2)
First appearance – Frederic Nimani (Bolton 1-0 BURNLEY, January 26^th 2010)
Most goals – None
First goal – N/A

Elsewhere

19-year-old Wolves reserve defender Cyriaque Mayounga has made two appearances for the CAR, but is yet to make a senior appearance for Wolves. Elsewhere, Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma could have played for the CAR through his parents, but elected to play for France, the country of his birth. Zouma’s younger brother Yoan remains eligible for the CAR and currently plays club football for Bolton Wanderers.

Trivia

Frederic Nimani lost both of his Premier League appearances.
Frederic Nimani could also have represented Chad.
The Central African Republic national football team has only ever played one senior international fixture against a team outside of Africa (vs Malta in 2011).