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Anxious Moment For European League as Nations Cup Drains Players
By Emmanuel Zelifac
Despite the sad note on which it started with withdrawal of the Togolese National after an unfortunate attack from a separatist movement in the Cabinda Region, the African Nations Cup hosted by Angola has lived up to its reputation. The quality of the game has been great; turn out positive, with an overall increase in the standard of the game in the continent.Gone are the days of some Teams rated as underdogs else host country Angola will not fire four goals past a star studded Malian Team which however fought hard to earn a draw in the opening game. How about hitherto little fancied Malawi trouncing world cup bound Algeria or Gabon avenging the two defeats it suffered from Cameroon in the world cup qualifiers by stunning them with a one nil victory?
The presence of the cream of African football stars at the Nations cup has taken a lot of shine off the European league from where most of them ply their trade. Months into the event the prospects of going for at least a month without the services of the African stars were prospects dreaded by most of the clubs in Europe. Chelsea in England is at the moment without services of key players like Didier Drogba and Solomon Kalou of Ivory Coast, Michael Essien of Ghana, and Mikel Obi of Nigeria.
From Arsenal the vital services of Alexander Song of Cameroon and Emmanuel Eboue of Africa Coast are missing. Yakubi Ayigbeni of Nigeria is gone from Everton, so too is Kolo Toure of Ivory Coast for Manchester City. Fellow club mate Emmanuel Adebayor is still trying to recover from the shock ambush he suffered alongside the Togolese National Team. Though Togo withdrew from the competition, Adebayor is still bracing up to resume action for Manchester City.The woes of Portsmouth have only gotten worse in the absence of players like Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria.In France Marseille is at the moment without the services of Taiye Taiwo of Nigeria, Stephane Mbia of Cameroon and Bakary Kone of Ivory Coast. Paris St Germaine has experienced great problems in the midfield in the absence of play maker Stephane Sessegnon of Benin. Other French Clubs like Nice, St Etienne, Monaco, and Lyon just to cite a few in France also have key players who have placed country first before club when it comes to the Nations Cup.
In Spain, despite the abundance of talent, it is hard not to notice the absence of dynamic midfielders like Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast and Seidou Keita of Mali in Barcelona of Spain. The two have had a tremendous impact on the impressive run that Barcelona has enjoyed in the last few seasons. Frederick Kanoute from Mali was out but Sevilla should thank God for his early return because of Mali’s first round exit. Espanyol of Barcelone has had a dreadful season so far but there have Cameroon’s goal keeper Carlos Kameni to thank if things if things were not worse prior to the Nations Cup. His absence leaves Espanyol very vulnerable at the moment.
Samuel Eto’o was at the centre of the flow of bad blood between the Cameroon National Team and Inter Milan’s coach Jose Mourinho. Not happy to see his frontline point man gone for up to a month because of the Nations cup, Mourinho tried to delay Eto’s departure so he plays an extra match for Inter something Cameroonian authorities refused to accept.
The bulk of players participating at the Nations Cup ply their trade in different parts of the world lulled by the appeal of better wages. A country like Cameroon has no player from the domestic league. Despite the mass exodus of players, a country like Egypt traditionally dominated by home based players has won the last two editions of the trophy despite missing out on the qualification for the upcoming world cup in South Africa. In a bid to offer local talents an opportunity the Confederation of African Football now has a tournament which accepts only the participation of African based players.There have been repeated calls for the Nations Cup to be pushed to the end of the season in Europe to minimize the impact that the mass exodus of talents has on European clubs. The African Football Confederation has refused to yield in to the pressure so far. That these players often prefer to represent their countries at the expense of clubs is considered a sign of big patriotism in a continent where few things generate excitement as the game of football.
Recruiters from all over the world are in Angola for the tournament so too are some of the stars of yester years who serve as analysts in diverse media groups. As young stars emerge, so too are some players playing what maybe their last major continental tournament. Cameroon’s emblematic defender Rigobert Song, who has won the tournament twice, emerged runner up once and holds the record for participation and matches played is getting ready to bow out at the age of 33 amidst growing criticism from the ever demanding public with regards to his fitness. Following him out maybe Geremi Njitap who has won the cup twice as well. Mali’s Frederick Kanoute has already indicated that the early ouster of Mali may represent his last appearance at a Nation’s cup for Mali. Despite joining the Malian National Team late after spells in the French Olympic selection, Kanoute put in his all for Mali scoring vital goals and even emerging as Player of the year in 1998. Hard to see former African Footballer of the year Nwankwo Kanu laces his boots for another Nations Cup after this edition.
The 2010 Nations cup also serves as rehearsal for the African flag bearers at the upcoming world cup. Of the six countries charged with flying the African flag, only the 2010 world cup hosts South Africa failed to qualify for the Nations cup. The rest of the countries picked up tickets for the quarter finals but not without a huge fight. Algeria which deprived Nations cup holders Egypt of a place at the world cup got clobbered by little fancy Malawi in its opening game before bouncing back to earn a place in the last eight teams. Nigeria was trounced by Egypt in its opening game but victories over Benin and Mozambique in its last two games were enough to earn them a quarter final spot. In the absence of Togo which withdrew after the unfortunate attack of its delegation, Ghana and Ivory Coast outsmarted Burkina Faso to pick up the two qualifying tickets for the next round in their group. Burkina Faso should however receive credit for forcing overrated Ivory Coast to a tie in their opening game. Cameroon had it rough in picking up its ticket, suffering a loss to Gabon, defeating Zambia and coming from behind to pick up a draw with Tunisia in their last game.
But for the unfortunate attack on the Togolese National Team, it has been a relatively successful tournament this far and Angola deserves credit for the efforts it has put in. For a country engulfed in war a few years back, Angola is making rapid progress and its soccer is one to watch in the near future. As to Africa’s opponents for the world cup, there may better be ready for some very stiff competition. From the look of things the cup will either stay in Africa or will not leave the continent without a very strong fight.
