The battle for continental football dominance begins on Sunday in Cameroon.
On Sunday the upcoming African Men’s Championship in Africa is sparing the number of players from many major European clubs.
In the English Premier League, for example, Liverpool will have to cope without an Egyptian in the near future Mohamed Salahia, Senegalese Sadio Manéa and Guinean Naby Keïtaa. Chelsea, meanwhile, lose their Senegalese No. 1 goalkeeper Edouard Mendyn.
The star players in the championship tournament in Cameroon will also be Algerian, for example Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Ivorian Sébastien Haller (Ajax), Nigerian Wilfred Ndidi (Leicester), Ivorian Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal), Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Ivorian Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi (PSG).
The departure of Salah and Mané is a tough hit for Liverpool, but City, for example, is likely to endure Mahrez’s absence well because quality substitutes can be found.
In addition to Liverpool, perhaps the hardest hits from Premier League clubs will be at Watford, Leicester, Crystal Palace and Arsenal, each losing several quality players to the tournament.
Watford has admittedly stated that the Senegalese striker is not Ismaïla Sarr and the Nigerian tip Emmanuel Dennis go to the tournament because the former has been injured and the latter was not asked by the race crew within the time limit.
In other major series, for example, Napoli, which is fighting for the Italian Serie A championship, is suffering bad losses.
Africa championships have traditionally been preceded by the coaching of a few European club coaches about letting their players into competitions in the middle of a series season. So again this time.
In 2019, the tournament was held for the first time in the summer, when the major series were on hiatus. This year’s championship event was originally scheduled to be last summer.
First, the tournament time was postponed to last January due to Cameroon’s unfavorable summer weather, and eventually the event bounced a year ahead due to the corona.
There are also demands for the upcoming tournament that the event should be postponed due to a corona pandemic.
“The European Championships were held this year (2021) in the midst of a pandemic, and in many cities the stadiums were full. Why not play the African Championship in Cameroon “, Samuel Eto’o recently asked Canal +, according to news agency AFP.
“Or are people trying to say, as usual, that Africans are not worth anything, so we just have to put up with it,” player legend Eto’o, the new president of the Cameroon Football Association, continued.
Liverpool head coach Jürgen Klopp called the African Championships a “small tournament” in November. Klopp later clarified that it had been an ironic throw.
One way or another, but Klopp’s speech aroused resentment.
“Who does Klopp think he is? He is in his current position thanks to African footballers, ”Senegal’s head coach and former top player Aliou Cissé claimed with reference to Liverpool ‘s African star.
There will be 24 countries participating in the championship tournament, and the final will be played on February 6th. Algeria is the reigning champion and one of the biggest winners. Also, at least Egypt, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia can live up to realistic championship dreams.
Algeria defend the championship
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The African Men’s Football Championship will be played in Cameroon from January 9th to 6th. February.
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There are 24 countries involved, divided into six blocks of four teams. The top two in each block and the top four in the block triangle advance to the quarterfinals. The tournament culminates in a final at Yaounde.
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The first African Championship was held in 1957. The tournament has traditionally been held every two years, although some times the rhythm of the tournament has varied for various reasons. The African Championship has been played 32 times before the tournament begins now.
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Algeria is the reigning champion as it won the previous tournament played in 2019. With seven championships, Egypt is the most successful country in the championships. Cameroon (5), Ghana (4) and Nigeria (3) have also won at least three championships.
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