The African cup is a
competition with it's history dating back to 1957. The competition is hosted
every two years and it is quite notably hosted in January because of the
continent's climatic conditions. In every single competition there are
interesting dynamics; nations with history and nations
in form. My wish as a writer is to exploit the dynamics of the African
continent with you.
The grand masters of most competition like to establish themselves in the early stages of the competition and in the AFCON it isn't any different.The first edition of this tournament was claimed by the Pharoahs of Egypt in the South Saharan parts of Sudan, the Egyptians would continue to become record winners in the competition winning it 7 times with a show of brute force and power in every single conquer or dominance if you may. The pharos are the only side to have won the competition 3 times in a row;2006,2008 and in 2010 making them out rightly the most successful footballing nation on the continent. With Al Alhy achieving similar feet in the CAF champions league under Pitso Mosimane it is safe to say football on the continent doesn't come any better than Egyptian football.
The next grand master we saw emerge was the black stars of Ghana who won it on back to back occasions in 1963 and 1965. As a Ghanaian writer I can only say wow, "how the mighty has fallen". Though the indomitable lions of Cameroon, the host nation for this years edition, has one more trophy than the black stars one can not help but stare in wonder at the number of finals the Ghanaian sides have lost, 5 in total!. The last Ghanaian side to conquer the continent did it in 1982. In that side we saw the great Abedi Pele and Asante Kotoko's very own Lord Opoku Nti. Since then the black stars continue to produce talent but not trophies. In a spell of 40 years without this trophy players like Tony Baffour, Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan have all seen the promised land but have never gotten there. You would think the Jews taking 40 years to make it to a destination was bad!
Fast afterwards countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Algeria follow with 7 trophies between the three of them to fill up the remaining sloughs of the grand masters. Undoubtedly amongst these nations lie a host of talents that graced the African terrain with pure skill and ability. From Egypt's Ahmed Hassan who won back to back MVP's to Samuel Eto for his sheer goal scoring ability to Abedi Pele for Skill and Finally Laurent Pokou for being the first player to retain the golden boot the Afcon has never lacked talent.
In this years edition the dynamics are very simple, take the trophies from the holders!!. The desert foxes of Algeria have proven more than formidable on their current 32 game unbeaten run and are simply the team to beat and why wouldn't they? With Riyad Marhez, Said Benrahma and Islam Slimani everyone would be given a good run for their money. The closest opposition to this side would be the Taranga Lions of Senegal. Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gueye and Ismaile Saar would be sure to go out for revenge. Teams like Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast could also prove a point. With the amount of quality they possess, an upset to Algeria and Senegal is always in the cards.
For Ghana, I believe a good performance is on the cards but it ends there. With the team in transition, quality is far and few between for the black stars. However a careful blend of youth in Mohammed Kudus and Fatawu Isahaku with the experience in the Ayew Brothers and Thomas Partey could take the black stars far. The side I am intrigued to watch however is the Eagles of Mali. It would be fascinating to see how they line up Yves Bissouma, Moussa Djenepo, Amadou Haidara and Diadie Samassekou in midfield. In my estimation this would be the most difficult midfield to outrun or dominate. Teams like Morocco and Tunisia could also emerge as wildcards if they play the game right.
The last piece of this intriguing article is a Man who needs to prove himself, Mohammed Salah. In the earlier paragraphs of the article i made it abundantly clear how successful the pharos have been in this competition. In the number of quality footballers they've shown us in Nady Gedo,Muhammad Abu Tarika and Essam El Hadary you can't help but feel the Egyptian king has big shoes to fill. Never before has the performance of an African player inched him closer to the ballon d'or in the first half of the season than what we've seen from Mo. With the Afcon being the birth right of Egypt the Egyptian king has to win it at some point. I recon it should be now.
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