Hokie ClubYonis Kireh is an unassuming figure walking down Beamer Way in Blacksburg. A tall, thin, Black man with a charming smile, you wouldn’t know that he had just represented a small African nation in FIFA World Cup qualifying. You see, Kireh is not your typical Virginia Tech student, in addition to suiting up for the men’s soccer team in the fall, he holds citizenship with Djibouti, and the 22-year-old realized a dream of playing international football for the African nation this spring.
Kireh, who moved to Blacksburg in the summer of 2024 played for the men’s soccer team in the fall playing eight times and scoring two goals for the Hokies.
A French national, Kireh has citizenship in Djibouti through his father Abdi Ibrahim. He had initially been contacted by the soccer federation three years ago, when Yonis was in Spain about an opportunity with the U20 team. To Abdi Ibrahim, it was not the right time, but he knew that another chance would come his son’s way.
The phone call did eventually come. The federation explained that there was an international camp coming up, where the team would have two matches. When Yonis responded, he said simply “Yes, of course I’ll play”.
The environment at camp in Morocco took some getting used to for Kireh who speaks French fluently, as did his new teammates, however he lacked the local dialect that many players used.
“When I talked, they could understand everything I was saying, but they could answer in a different language, so of course for me it was difficult to know what they were talking about at times,” Kireh said. “But, when you play soccer, when you’re good, everyone feels more comfortable with you. The ball talks for you.”
When considering what his role may be for the two qualifying games, Kireh did not dwell on the coach’s decisions much, focusing on his training and being the best version of himself.
“I think my first week at Djibouti camp was crazy, I was at a crazy level,” he said. “I just left Virginia Tech, where I was training two times a day in the morning, so I was at my best level ever athletically and also technically.”
Two days before kickoff, the coach spoke to Kireh individually to let him know that he would be starting in defense. What could have been a shock, did not faze him at all.
Was he nervous?
“No, not even close, not even close,” he commented with a smile. “I really enjoyed it. The player [I had to mark], was known from watching games on tv. If you know the player with who you are going to play, you can say ‘Yeah this player scored against Liverpool, he is not going to score against me.’
Kireh and Djibouti battled against fellow Group A participants Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in the March window, falling in both games. Djibouti sits in sixth in Group A. But for Kireh, who played 90 minutes in both games, it marks what could be the beginning of a long international career.
When asked about what it meant to suit up in those games, he had to pause and collect his thoughts. He explained that he had never been to Djibouti before, he does not consider it his homeland and in a sense, he only had so much pride in wearing the shirt. But to be able to represent his father’s country after all the things that he has gone through in his life and the opportunities that he has been able to present to him and his sister, it meant everything.
“I just want to give him back what he gave me,” Yonis said. “So, I am really happy to take [the opportunity] but also for him.”
Now a capped international football player, Kireh returned home to Virginia to resume his studies and training for the end of the Hokies’ spring slate.
When asked to consider his ‘biggest takeaway’ from the international football experience, he reflected on what he has, being a college athlete in America, something his compatriots cannot relate to.
“It’s the chance that I have to be in America, 100%,” Kireh stated. “Because I know when I came into camp, I remember how the other players looked at me, how they feel like ‘Why does he have this chance to be French, to live in America, to have this opportunity’. America has the best opportunities.”
Looking ahead, he still has several years of eligibility in college and, of course aspires to play professionally at the highest levels.
So, what’s next?
“My goal is to be the best version of me. Of course, I want to be the best soccer player possible, I want to be a professional in the first division in America or in France. But also, I want to be the first in whatever I am going to do. If I can’t be the best professional player, I am going to be the best coach, whether that is in college soccer in America or in the first division. I am going to be the first somewhere, I don’t want to be second.”