World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

TheGambia’scoachbelievesthat

lesserknownstarscouldstandoutin

January’stournamentinCameroon

ThebigstarsofpreviousAFCONs

havenotalwaysbeenthe onesthat

youpredict.EveryoneinEuropewill

expectthe bignameslikeRiyadMahrez,

SadioManeandMoSalahtobethe

stars,butthatisn’talwaysthecase.

Milan’s IsmaelBennacerwasstill

playingforEmpoliwhenhewas Player

ofthe TournamentinAlgeria’s 2019

win.WhenCameroonwon back-to-

backAFCONsin 2 000 and 20 02,

theirstarmanSamuelEto’owon

neitherthebestplayer nortopscorer

awards.IvoryCoasthadtowaituntil

2015 towin,whenall-timerecord

scorerDidierDrogba hadretired.

Sometimesa newstarcanemerge

alongsideone of thebigplayers,and

thatnewstardoesn’tnecessarily

havetobeyoung.

Mahrezwill be influentialfor

Algeriabutit’sgoodtoseeIslam

Slimanistartingregularlyagaintoo.

Slimaniis 33 nowandwas notalways

inthe teamwhenDjamelBelmadifirst

tookchargein 2018 , butnow he is

Algeria’sall-timerecordgoalscorer.

HeshouldcombinewellwithBaghdad

Bounedjah, whoisplayingfor Al Sadd,

andisoneofmyfavourite playersat

thetournament.

WilfredNdidiandKelechiIheanacho

willbe expectedtodowellfor Nigeria,

butI thinkthatAhmedMusa– who

is 29 andin Turkeynow with Fatih

Karagumruk– is veryinteresting.

ForTunisia,WahbiKhazriisan

intelligentandbrilliantplayer and

hecandecidea gamebyhimself.

SebastianHallerdidnot fare so well

inEnglandwithWestHamUnitedbut

isscoringregularlyforAjaxandcould

dowellfor IvoryCoast.

Bigthingswill be expectedfrom

Arsenal’sPierre-EmerickAubameyang

atGabonandhecouldcombinewell

withDenisBouanga,whoisingood

formonthe wingforSaint-Etienne.

Amongtheyoungergeneration,

Ghanahavesomeverygood players.

KamaldeenSulemanaisonly 19 years

oldand playingverywellinmidfield

forRennesinFrance.Mohammed

Kudusisanother midfielderand,like

Sulemana,cameoutoftheRightto

Dreamacademy in Ghanaandisalso

doingwellfor Ajax.I don’tthinkGhana

willwin,butthesetwoyoungplayers

couldbestars.

Butthebigstarmightnotbean

outfielder: there aresomeverystrong

goalkeepersat thisAFCON.Manewill

beexpectedtoshineforSenegal,but

EdouardMendyisinfantasticformfor

Chelsea.TheMoroccangoalkeeper

YassineBounou (knownasBono),

whoplaysforSevilla,isvery

interesting,andAndreOnana

isplayingwellagainfor Cameroon

after a yearoutforadopingban.

Outsideofthebigcountries,there

couldbea breakoutstariftheirteam

THEWORLD THISMONTH

GUEST COLUMNIST

Tom

SAINTFIET

doeswelland hasa goodrun.Burkina

Fasoreached thefinal in 2 013 andthe

semi-finalsin 20 17,andLassina Traore

couldbea realstariftheyhavea good

runagain.Hewill turn 21 duringthe

tournamentbutisalreadyplayingat

a toplevel in EuropewithShakhtar

Donetsk.

Anotherplayerthatlooksvery

promisingisIbrahima KoneforMali.He

isonlyplayingforSarpsborg in Norway,

buthasscoredfivegoalsinfiveWorld

Cupqualifyinggames.Hecouldbea

realsurpriseifMalireachthelasteight.

BenNabouhanewill alsobevital

fortheComorosashehasexperience

playingatthe toplevel forRedStar

Belgrade,whileat my team,Ablie

Jallow– whoplaysfor Seraingin

BelgiumonloanfromLigue1 side

Metz– is averyskilfulplayer and

animportantpartof ourside.

Everythingwillbe decidedforthe

playersonhowfartheirteamsgo:

anyoneina teamthatgetsknocked

outbeforethequarter-finalsisunlikely

toget noticed.

I thinkitwill be theplayerswhoare

notsowellknown in Europewhowill

decidethe latestAfricaCup of Nations.

TomSaintfietwasspeaking

toSteveMenary

IbrahimaKone...

theSarpsborg

forwardhashit

eightgoals in six

gamesforMali

IvoryCoasthadtowaituntil 2015 towin,when

all-timerecordscorerDidierDrogbahadretired

UnknownplayerswilldecideAFCON 2021