From January 9, 2022 until February 6, the 2021 African Cup of Nations will be held where the 24 teams participating in the tournament will fight to become the best team on the continent.
Today we are not going to see who are the favorite teams or the ones that have achieved the most titles, but we are going to know the origin of the nickname of 10 of the 24 participants thanks to the twitter thread created by Express Fútbol collaborator, Omar BS.
[HILO] WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE PSEUDONYMS OF THE TEAMS PLAYING IN THE # AFCON2021?
Today, we will go through the 33rd edition of the maximum African national team tournament to learn a little more about the history of each of its participants.
Ready? pic.twitter.com/5k1fkwPF2i
– ???? ?? (@OmarBS_) January 9, 2022
The desert fox, also known as Fénec, is a species that inhabits the Sahara desert, which occupies a large part of Algeria. The nickname Les Fennecs is related to this animal and in Spanish they are known as Desert Foxes.
The Cameroon team is known as The Indomitable Lions. This nickname is due to the fact that they chose the name of this animal to give more fierceness to their team. a well-earned nickname, especially from the 80s, when the Cameroon team made the big leap.
The elephants is the most representative animal of the Ivory Coast, present on the country’s coat of arms and on that of the federation.
The nickname of the Egyptian team, the Pharaohs, is a reference to the country’s history. During the time of the Egyptian empire the maximum representation were the pharaohs, almost divine beings.
The Ghanaian team is one of the few whose nickname does not refer to any animal. This team is known as The Black Stars because of the black star that they carry on their chest and that symbolizes freedom in Africa.
Another selection that refers to the lion in its nickname is that of Morocco as it is one of the most important species in the country. The Atlas thing, as explained in the thread, may be due to the extinct subspecies in the wild that is native to North Africa or to the mountain range that the country runs through.
The Nigerian national team is known as the Green Eagles, a nickname linked to the country’s emblem and flag. The eagle appears crowning the coat of arms while green is the color of the flag, along with white.
Senegal’s national team also bears the nickname of the lion, an animal that lives in the country. In addition, the term Teranga refers to the spirit of hospitality in Wolof, one of the native languages of the country.
Crocodiles are one of the animals that inhabit the Nile River, in fact in the lakes and rivers of Sudan there are four different species of crocodiles and this is where the selection takes its nickname.
Another team whose nickname refers to the eagles is that of Tunisia and is that said animal appears on the shield of the football federation. As for Carthage, it was an ancient city built in present-day Tunis and destroyed by the Romans.
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