Afcon 2022 took its time to get going, with few goals in the first round of group games and another lull in the early knockout matches, but we were rewarded with a fantastically climactic ending.
Sadio Mane’s one-night redemption arc gave Senegal their first major tournament win and made good on all the promise of their superstar generation.
Off the pitch, the tournament was marred by the loss of life in Yaounde, leaving a continent asking questions about how this could happen at a new stadium with such excellent facilities. The answers to those questions may well create the longest-lasting legacy.
Here are my reflections on the tournament:
The one thing I’ll never forget
I had not yet arrived in Cameroon when the tragedy at the Olembe Stadium in Yaounde took the lives of eight people and injured many more. But attending the semi-final 10 days later, when we used the same entrance and again watched the home nation, was incredibly strange.
There were no mentions of the disaster and no memorials either. It was both enlightening and uncomfortable to learn how a population surrounded by hardship and tragedy displays – and hides – its grief.
Best goal
There is something particularly joyful about a spectacular consolation goal, a shot taken from distance because you have no other choice. Comoros’ late goal against Cameroon in the last-16 was the perfect example, Youssouf M’Changama’s free kick from 35 yards flying over Andre Onana and into the top left corner of the net. Having played for 89 minutes with an outfield player in goal, it was the least they deserved.
Best game
Ghana stunk the place out in their opening two matches, leaving them needing to win their final group game by two clear goals against a Comoros team who were making their tournament debut and had lost both of their opening two matches without scoring.
The Comorians scored early and unthinkably extended that lead after the hour, but goals from Richmond Boakye and Alexander Djiku brought Ghana level. Cue a Benjaloud Youssouf goal and a stabbed Ahmed Mogni finish to give Comoros their first ever major tournament win.
Biggest surprise
Burkina Faso making the semi-finals was wonderful, but it’s hard to look past Gambia reaching the quarter-finals in their first ever Afcon. They took seven points from a group containing Mali and Tunisia, beat Guinea in the last-16 and were only eliminated by the hosts in Douala. With their Serie A diaspora, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that this could be the start of a special era for Gambian football.
Biggest disappointment
Algeria were a little unfortunate to take only one point and score one goal at Afcon 2021. They had the highest average possession, the third most shots per game and faced fewer shots per game than finalists Egypt. But that is no excuse; we expected the defending champions to at least make the quarter-finals and so did the Algerian FA. Djamel Belmadi will surely be sacked if they lose their World Cup playoff against Cameroon next month.
Team of the tournament
Goalkeeper: Mohamed El Shenawy/Mohamed Abou Gabal (Egypt)
A controversial shared award, but it makes total sense. El Shenawy played Egypt’s three group games and then 88 minutes of their last-16 match, conceding one goal in total. At which point he got injured, “Gabaski” replaced him and promptly conceded one goal in three games and took Egypt through two penalty shootouts before being named Man of the Match in the final.
Right-back: Achraf Hakimi (Morocco)
Hakimi came into this tournament as its world-class right-back and he fully justified the billing. The PSG star played every minute of Morocco’s campaign, scored twice and was a constant threat overlapping on the right wing. The only criticism was that he lost his head a little against Egypt in the quarter-final when he should have been the one to calm down his teammates.
Left-back: Saliou Ciss (Senegal)
Ciss is very much the exception in Senegal’s defence. While the other four in their back five play for Chelsea, Napoli, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, the 32-year-old left-back is now at Nancy in the French second tier having failed to break into Angers’ first team. But if opponents thought that they could exploit the weak link, think again. Even with Sadio Mane staying high up the pitch, Ciss coped admirably.
Centre-back: Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso)
Burkina Faso were the surprise team of the tournament, continuing their reputation as Afcon’s great overachievers. This was emphatically a team effort (Burkina Faso scored in every game via eight different goalscorers), but the Stallions were led by Tapsoba. He has been regularly linked with a move away from Bayer Leverkusen to one of Europe’s elite clubs. Antonio Rudiger’s replacement at Chelsea, perhaps?
Centre-back: Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt)
Abdelmonem was one of the youngest players in this Egypt squad and one of its least experienced. He made his international debut in the Arab Cup in December and impressed enough to both make the Afcon squad and be recalled by Al Ahly from his loan. That continued in Cameroon: Egypt conceded one goal during his five starts and he was named Man of the Match in the semi-final. Shame about the penalty in the final shootout.
Central midfielder: Martin Hongla (Cameroon)
Hongla was hardly a fixture in the Cameroon team before this tournament, but he has provided superb steel in central midfield, protecting the defence (he has played as a centre-back at club level for Verona) and allowing André-Frank Zambo Anguissa to push forward. Hongla managed to combine that with some attacking intent of his own – he created nine chances and no teammate provided more assists despite him being rested for the third-place playoff.
Central midfielder: Mohamed Elneny (Egypt)
Elneny is clearly still fighting for relevance at Arsenal – he has played more minutes in this tournament than in all competitions at club level this season – but you cannot doubt his importance to Egypt. In the centre of midfield, his job was to hound opposition midfielders, pressuring them into rushed passes more than making tackles. He then switches to become their passing metronome, vital in a team that tended to defend deep and launch aimless clearances if Elneny was unable to demand the ball.
Central midfielder: Ibrahima Sangare (Ivory Coast)
There is only one player in this team who was knocked out before the quarter-finals. Moses Simon and Nicolas Pepe can count themselves unlucky, but there is too much competition in attack. Sangare is our exception. It seems abundantly clear that he has all the tools to be the next superstar midfielder and yet, having just turned 24, he is still a PSV player. At Afcon, he played all the hits: he tackles, he surges forward with the ball, he’s physical, he protects the ball and he always looks to pass the ball forward.
Wide forward: Sadio Mane (Senegal)
The official Player of the Tournament and a man with balls the size of Africa after stepping up to take the final penalty having missed almost two hours earlier. Mane was not a constant threat in this tournament, but he provided the tie-defining moments in each of Senegal’s knockout matches. He was already a superstar in Dakar; now he’s a deity.
Wide forward: Sofiane Boufal (Morocco)
Boufal’s performances went a little under the radar in this tournament, overshadowed by Mane and Mohamed Salah. But he scored three goals (two of them penalties), created a chance for every 22 minutes he spent on the pitch and only three players in the tournament completed more dribbles. Released by Southampton on a free transfer and now at Angers, this tournament was proof that he could still be a smart signing for a higher-end Ligue 1 club.
Striker: Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)
No Cameroon striker will ever match up to Samuel Eto’o for superstardom or Roger Milla for the magical tale of his international return, but Vincent “Aboutcho” Aboubakar is now running them close. In 2017, he came off the bench to score Cameroon’s late winner in the Afcon final. In this tournament he became the highest goalscorer in a single tournament since Ndaye Mulamba in 1974. Now aged 30, he certainly has at least one more Afcon in him.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/WKTyYus
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