A Sunday League footballer earned his first international cap after being called up to play for Rwanda.
Isima Musa, 23, was turning out for an amateur side in London when a friend who played for Rwanda showed the coaches film of him in action.
Striker Isima, who qualifies to play for the African nation through his grandmother, got an invite to play with the under-23 squad.
He went to Africa in July to play in a friendly ahead of a tournament in Ethiopia, where Rwanda ended up pulling out of due to a rise in Covid cases.
Isima said: “My story, it’s pretty unique. I got into the Rwanda squad through a recommendation. It was very exciting.
"I was playing Sunday league and in the same year I played for my national team.”
The experience has left Isima determined to get back into the professional game. Isima, from Farringdon, central London, expected to become a professional footballer after signing with Wycombe Wanderers as a teenager.
He was released from the League One side due to injuries at the age of 18.
Isima then played in the Les Ambassadeurs Championship Division in London while he worked as a personal trainer.
When all the games were cancelled by Covid, Isima thought his chances of a pro career were doomed.
He said: “I thought about how to get back into the game. I wondered if it was for me.” But then he sent the message to his friend about Rwanda.
Isima said: “He contacted the higher-ups. They said, ‘We will take a look at you’.”
Isima hopes it will help him achieve his dream of a football career.
He said: “I’m just training right now.”
