World Soccer - UK (2022-01)

GAMBIA

Thisisa first-everappearance
atthe finalsforthesmallWest
African country, whofinishedtop
oftheirqualifyinggroupahead
ofGabon, andeliminatedboth
AngolaandtheDemocratic
RepublicofCongo.
Itistestament to theirBelgian
coachTom Saintfiet,whomanaged
tocoaxresourcesfroma near
bankruptfederationandan
equallypoorsportsministryto
givehissquadanoptimalchance.
Therearea surprisingnumber
ofGambianplayerscompetingin
Europe– someofthemformer
refugees– anda decentpool
oftalenttochoosefrom.
Thedrawalsooffersthe
Scorpionsthe chance to make
itpast thefirst round,andinto
theknockoutstages,attheirfirst
attempt,aslongastheykeeptheir
defensive disciplineanddothe
jobonthecounter-attack.

KEYPLAYER

The 23 -year-oldMusaBarrowis
effectiveeitheronthe left of the
attackorasa centre-forward. The
Bolognamanwill be theplayer
Gambialookto forinspiration
andexperienceatthefinals.

THECOACH

TomSaintfiethailsfromMolin
Belgiumandhashadanincredible
tendifferentassignments as a
nationalteamcoachbut,for
the 4 8-year-old,theGambia
hasbeenhisbestreturn.

MALI

Oneof thebetter teamstohave

never hadprevioussuccessatthe

AFCONfinals,Malicouldplaya

majorroleinthistournament.

Thisisaneighth successive

tournamentappearancefor

“LesAigles”, whofinished

third in both 2012 and 2013.

Theirbest performancetodate

wasas runners-upto Congoway

backin 1972 – thelasttimethe

tournamentwas hostedin

Cameroon.

Thefacttheywerebanned from

playingathome duringtherecent

World Cupqualifiersyetstilleasily

wontheirgroupisindicativeof

theirability,buildingonplayers

fromtheDiasporaaswellas

successatjunior levelin

continentalcompetition.

KEYPLAYER

Full-backandcaptainHamari

Traore, whostarsforRennesin

Franceandwillturn 3 0 duringthe

tournament,hasbeen a model

ofconsistencyforMalisincehis

debutin 2015 andplayed at the

lasttwofinalsin 2017 and 2019.

THECOACH

Mohamed Magassoubatook

overtheMalijobin 2017 but was

caretaker coachfortwoyears

before a permanentappointment

wasmade,whichwas a second

nationalteamjobforthe64-year

-oldafteralsopreviouslycoaching

theDemocraticRepublicofCongo

nationalteaminthe 1 990s.

MAURITANIA

Theprimary reasonMauritania

emergedfromalmost nowhereto

qualifyfor thelastAFCONfinals

wasthetime thatcoachCorentin

Martinswas giventobuildthe side.

Itwas theantithesisofthe short

tenuresthatusuallycharacterise

coachingAfrican nationalteams

andMauritaniawereabletoreap

therewards.

FormerFrenchinternational

Martinswentontoqualifythe

countryforasecondsuccessive

finals,losingonlyonegamein

theirqualifying group,but was

theninexplicablyfired in October

astheyperformedwithfar less

distinction in WorldCup qualifying.

Theimpactofa knee-jerk

reactionfromthefederation

couldbea negativeone.

KEYPLAYER

French-born 26-year-old

AboubakarKamarawasalso

eligibleforSenegalbutagreed in

2020 tothrowin hisinternational

prospects with Mauritania.The

formerFulhamforward,now

playinginGreece,addsan

improvededge to theirattack.

THECOACH

The 52 -year-oldFrenchman

Didier GomesDaRosawas

appointed in November, continuing

a journeymancareeroverthe

lastnineyearsinAfricawhere

hehascoachedclubsinAlgeria,

Cameroon,Egypt,Guinea,

Rwanda,Sudan andTanzania.

TUNISIA

TheNorthAfricansare a

modelofconsistencyin the

Africangame,extendingtheir

record number of successive

appearancesatthe finalsto 15 ,

havingnotmisseda tournament

sincetheirhostingin 1994.

Duringall that time, they have

posted a solitarysuccess(ashosts

in 20 04)andweresemi-finalists

twoyearsago. They invariablyget

outofthegroupstage,having

succeededintenof thepast

14 tournaments.

A lackofdepth in theirsquad

meansthatfor alltheirsolidity,

theyprobablylackthecutting

edgeneededtogoalltheway

andwintheeventagain.

Butthereis alwaysthe potential

theirworkmanlikeapproachcould

deliveragainafter alltheseyears.

KEYPLAYER

Wahbi Khazri, theCorsican-

bornSaint-Etienneforward,

willbe competinginhisfifthfinals

tournamentand,atthe ageof

30,mightbe aimingfora few

morebefore retirement.

THECOACH

MondherKebaierwasa welcome

breakfromthelonglist of foreign

coachesTunisia hadcontinued

toappointwhenthe 5 1-year-old

wasasurprisechoice forthepost

inAugust 2019 , afterhaving

workedatthecountry’stop

three clubs– ClubAfricain,

EsperanceandEtoileduSahel.

GROUP F

Overcoming

adversity...Mali

didn’tplaya home

gameinWorld

Cupqualifying

Stalwarts...

thisisTunisia’s

15 thAFCON

appearance

ina row

Firstfinals...

TomSaintfiet

Ex-caretaker...

Mohamed

Magassouba

Switching

allegiance...

Aboubakar

Kamara

Fifth finals...

WahbiKhazri