Burnley's Manuel Benson handed first ever international call-up as winger opts to represent African country

The 27-year-old was born in Lokeren, Belgium, but is eligible to represent Angola through his father Jorge Hedilazio, who also represented the country during the 1990s.

Benson represented Belgium at Under-19 and Under-21 level but has now received a call-up to Angola’s senior squad for June’s World Cup qualifiers.

Explaining his decision, Benson told the club’s official website: "I have the double nationality through my father who was born in Angola. He was also a player too for Lokeren and for Angola a while back.

"It means a lot to me and my family. It's a choice we made a while ago, but it's not always been the right circumstances. So, for it now to be official and represent the country that my dad represented is a huge honour and it brings a lot of emotions and joy to my family.

"I’m excited to finally go there and live the experience with the squad and meet the Angolan people. Being a player in the national team brings a lot of pride and joy, I'm really looking forward to it.

"There will be some tough games for us, but my main focus is helping and contributing as much as I can to the team and hopefully enter the break with two victories."

Angola face Eswatini on Friday, June 7 before taking on Cameroon on Tuesday, June 11.

Ranked 94 in the world, Angola drew their opening two qualifiers against Cape Verde and Mauritius respectively.

They were recently knocked out of the African Cup of Nations by eventual finalists Nigeria at the quarter-final stage.