A Turk, a Spaniard, a Ghanaian , a Tunisian and a Pole walk into a football tournament. They are much better than everyone else and play very, very good football, coasting past any obstacles with ease. They all play for the same nation.

There is no punch line here, only the stinging realisation that Germany’s cosmopolitan composition is ruling all else at Euro 2012. When Fabio Capello commented after England’s 4-1 humiliation at the hands of the old enemy at the 2010 World Cup that it was not a ‘proper’ German side that had given his team a lesson in ruthless counter-attacking play, you could not help but detect a distinct sense of bitterness on the England manager’s behalf. He could only dream of such broad, diverse pool of talent from which to cherry-pick.

As two of the most culturally varied and multi-ethnic nations in Europe, the contemporary histories of England and Germany are marked by an embracement of immigration and the promotion of tolerant and inclusive attitudes. Yet within the realm of football, it is Germany who are far more advanced in developing young, promising footballers of foreign descent for the national side. What can England learn from the German model?

Often heralded as a modern bastion of broad-minded and accepting approaches to racial and cultural diversity, Die Nationalmannschaft is generally representative of Germany’s wider ethnic make-up: with immigrants making up around 12% of the population, the national side remains illustrative of wider demographic trends. The UK has an almost identical level of immigration, yet in modern times a much smaller proportion of the England side have come from these minorities, whilst in English football generally the trend is repeated.

Much progress has been made in the past 25 years or so in terms of greater racial integration in English football; black and mixed raced players have become vital components of the national side, many of them second or third generation descendants of post-war immigration from the Caribbean. Racism has been largely eradicated from the domestic game. Yet worryingly, there remains one significant, unoccupied sector of society in football: England are failing to produce footballers of Asian origin to a level anywhere near representative of the nation’s Asian population.

Kick It Out’s campaign to encourage the involvement of young Asian footballers has been active for some years now, yet in 2004 only seven British Asians played professional football, dropping to five in 2008. Their website recognises some of the preconceived notions present in the national conscience which have hindered the development of Asians in football:

Popular myths such as Asians are only interested in Cricket and Hockey, that Asians aren’t strong enough to play the game professionally and that cultural differences will prevent Asian players footballing development are just a few of the common falsehoods that have hampered Asian players’ break through

In 2009 around 3 million British Asians were said to be resident in England – around 6% of the population, and almost double that of England’s black population. Immigration into England from former colonies in Asia has been strong and persistent for a number of decades, whilst the sons, daughters and grandchildren of these primary settlers have been assimilated into English society. British Asians have represented England at cricket, athletics and boxing; but never in football. Michael Chopra came closest when representing England Under-21s yet could not make the step up to the senior side.

It is a troubling tendency and one the FA, the Premier League and the government need to invest greater resources into resolving. There also needs to be a change of attitude on behalf of the wider population in regards to the stereotyping of British Asians in sport. Whilst it is true that football is not traditionally the sport of choice in nations such as India, Pakistan or Bangladesh, for naturalised descendants of immigrants from these countries it is fast becoming the adopted sport.

Everywhere besides on the pitch itself, British Asians have become a salient feature of English football culture: the Punjabi Wolves are England’s largest and longest established ethnic supporters group, whilst the ‘Manchester United Singhs’ have attracted significant media attention in the last few years after their constant TV appearances behind the away dugout at Old Trafford. A 2009 survey dictated that around 8% of Premier League attendees were of an ethnic minority background – sixteen times the proportion of British Asians in Premier League academies. Match-going culture is now cemented within the community, whilst the popularity of football has never been higher. Is it only a matter of time before a British Asian steps out for England in a major tournament?

Perhaps, though much needs to be done to ensure this becomes a reality. Germany’s revamped citizenship laws have been widely recognised as the reason behind the emergence of players of foreign origin in the national side, yet this is not the problem in England: much of country’s ethnic population hold citizenship through birth and thus are already qualified to appear for the national team. Instead, it is an issue of attitude, of perception and of effort.

Clubs in particular need to put greater exertion into the attraction, development and refining of young British Asian talent. There is undoubtedly a gifted set of Asian footballers out there, but is enough being done to recognise this?

Ultimately, the one imperative lesson to be learnt from Germany is tolerance. As it becomes a furthermore heated issue upon the national agenda and ethnic tensions rise on the streets, attitudes towards immigrants and their descendants must first change if a more representative English national team is to emerge in the near future. Football could be at the forefront of a wider liberal change and has made significant progress, yet chooses to cling on to a small selection of archaic beliefs.

German consul Sabine Sparwasser recently summed up the nation’s approach:

“the soccer team shows that we’re a much more multicultural society…soccer is espousing much more the concept that we need immigration.”

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