The international players swapping Europe for Mena to chase their World Cup dreams

For his first match in Spain’s La Liga, Aiham Ousou had been set a daunting challenge. His new team, Cadiz, were in the relegation zone. He’d had few training sessions to build defensive partnerships with teammates. And here he was, facing Atletico Madrid, up against the formidable aerial threat of Alvaro Morata, the blistering pace of Memphis Depay. Welcome to club football’s elite.

Ousou is 24 and on his Cadiz debut, 12 days ago, he also made history, the first Syrian international to play in Spain’s top division. He left an excellent impression, a centre-back of astute positioning, authoritative interceptions, confident in his long passing.

Tough, too. Midway through the first half, Morata collided with Ousou and the Spaniard fell to the ground clutching his face. It was a stunt, a test by a canny, much-travelled, much-medalled striker designed to shake up the newcomer. The referee ignored Morata’s complaints, Ousou paid no attention.

Cadiz won 2-0, their head coach Mauricio Pellegrino sharing the credit for a rare clean sheet with Ousou. “He hadn’t so much as played a friendly for us,” said Pellegrino. “But I know he can bring a lot to the sort of team we are.”

He identifies in Ousou a warrior, a man unruffled by the streetwise smarts of the likes of Morata. Ousou has become very worldly, very fast. Cadiz, who signed him on loan from Czech club Slavia Prague in January, are the fourth team he’s represented this season, a zig-zag adventure taking in Europa League football for Slavia, for Sweden’s Hacken, where he was on loan from September, and – the highlight – an Asian Cup where Syria made history by reaching the knockout stage and falling short of the quarter-finals only in a penalty shoot-out against Iran.

Syria,