Portland Timbers forward Danny Mwanga chasing a ball earlier this season against the LA Galaxy. Born in Kinshasa, Mwanga moved to the United States after the death of his father in the Congolese civil war. In issue one of XI Quarterly, Andrew Guest talks to Mwanga as part of his larger analysis of why immigrants tend to succeed in American soccer - and in society as a whole.
Photo: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers
In issue one of XI, Andrew Guest looks at the “immigrant’s game” in the U.S. He begins by discussing the day long ago that he saw “a lanky midfielder with sleepy eyes who ghosted around the patchy mud with a grace and precision more suited to La Liga than an American high school game. I lost track of how many goals he scored that day, and when I asked Jean-Marie about him after the game he told me: “He’s from Africa or Congo or somewhere—and his name is Jean-Marie too! But he goes by Danny.”
Danny’s last name was Mwanga, and Andrew talks to the Portland Timbers forward as he explores the reasons for the continued success of immigrants in American soccer.
Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers
