5 players expected to shine at AFCON 2015
Although Eagles wouldn’t be part of proceedings come January, many Nigerians would still be looking forward to the biggest continental football fiesta. Here are the five amazing players under pressure to shine in the West African country. Gervinho (Ivory Coast) Some might say in a star studded Elephant’s team why Gervinho and not why Manchester […]
Although Eagles wouldn’t be part of proceedings come January, many Nigerians would still be looking forward to the biggest continental football fiesta. Here are the five amazing players under pressure to shine in the West African country.
Gervinho (Ivory Coast) Some might say in a star studded Elephant’s team why Gervinho and not why Manchester City’s Yaya Toure or Swansea’s Wilfred Bony? Well, anybody that has been following Ivory Coast from the World Cup to the AFCON qualification phase will see why the AS Roma winger remains key to whatever the West African country will hope to achieve in Equatorial Guinea. In dazzling form for his Italian club this is the time for Gervinho to really step up and prove that he could fully replace retired Didier Drogba as his country’s main player
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) – The Indomitable Lions used to be all about Samuel Eto’o Fils and since his retirement if there’s any Cameroon player that has looked like replacing the legendary footballer, it is the FC Porto player. He scored double figures for Lorient last season which caught the eyes of Porto and even though the World Cup was an embarrassing affair for his country as he was the Lions top goal scorer he is expected to carry the country’s hopes as Eto’o has always done in the past.
Christian Atsu (Ghana) – New coach Avram Grant has been given the task of “doing well” which translates to at least reaching the semis. Atsu, without doubt, is one of the players the former Chelsea manager will be relying on to achieve the instructed target. The Everton player is presently one of the most talented African players in Europe and is hungry for success after tasting what it takes to be at the top when he joined Chelsea two seasons ago and was part of Ghana’s squad at the World Cup. If Ghana is to add to their four AFCON trophies, this player will have to live up to expectations and perform
Tokelo Rantie (South Africa) – The Bournemouth player is one of the most vital cogs in the wheels of a resurgent Bafana Bafana team under Shakes Mashaba. He was constantly a thorn in the flesh of the opposition defenders throughout the qualifying campaign, where his team finished top in a tough group A undefeated and only conceding three goals overall (two coming in the last game against Nigeria. He scored 14 goals for his British club last season and scored four in the qualifiers. Surely he will be under pressure to rise up to the occasion for South Africa to have any chance of impressing in Equatorial Guinea.
Yacine Brahimi (Algeria) – Algeria is the highest ranked country in Africa at the moment thanks to players like Brahimi who have been exceptional in the past 12 months. The BBC African Player of the Year performed brilliantly for Granada in the Spanish La liga last season, which made Porto to acquire his services before guiding the North African country to a last 16 finish at the last FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Brahimi is definitely one of the players under pressure to light up the championship come January.