5 Players to Watch out for During AFCON Qualifiers on November 14 and 15
Cup of Nations qualifiers return this weekend with a full schedule of matches across the continent.
At the time of writing, only two sides have confirmed their spot at African football’s showcase event. Cape Verde were (impressively) the first side to book their spot at the 2015 AFCON, quickly followed by Algeria, who have installed themselves already as one of the favourites for the title.
Perversely, we are yet to know where exactly the tournament will be held following Morocco’s decision to request a postponement. However, CAF have intimated that a host will be named imminently after Morocco were expelled from the tournament.
In this feature, we profile five players to watch during the weekend’s Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Yannick Bolasie
1 of 5
Few players shone quite like Yannick Bolasie during the last round of Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s magnificent 4-3 victory over the Ivory Coast in Abidjan was both a sublime match and an incredible result.
Despite not scoring, Bolasie was arguably the star of the show, although Salomon Kalou also deserves some credit.
Admittedly, he benefited from some fairly hapless Elephant defending, but his pace, dribbling ability and eye for a pass were there for all to see.
Bolasie enjoys a growing reputation within the African game and has even found himself among the 25 names nominated for the CAF Footballer of the Year award.
The top players on the continent all want to be present at the Cup of Nations and qualification remains in Congolese hands.
However, the Leopards will need to overcome group leaders Cameroon at Yaounde on Saturday. If they are to get anything from this game, then Bolasie will almost certainly need to be at his devastating best.
Solomon Asante
2 of 5
During Kwesi Appiah’s reign as Ghana boss, I would argue that he allowed inequality to fester at the expense of a meritocracy.
Admittedly, it would take a strong manager of an African national team to reject the services of the likes of Michael Essien, Kevin-Prince Boateng and the Ayew brothers, but in allowing those players to return on a whim ahead of the World Cup, other squad members were dropped.
Solomon Asante, who has been nominated for the CAF Africa-based African Player of the Year—was one such casualty.
The diminutive winger featured in all but one of Ghana’s 2013 Cup of Nations matches, but he was overlooked completely for the trip to Brazil.
Following the World Cup, the likes of Essien and Boateng have once against wilted into the background, and the door has re-opened for the fringe players.
Asante impressed as he returned to the team for the 3-1 victory over Guinea. He linked well with Jordan Ayew, among others and, in light of the absences of Kwadwo Asamoah, Asamoah Gyan and the younger Ayew brother, he should get the opportunity to shine once again.
Ahmed Fathi
3 of 5
Egypt and Senegal meet on Saturday in Cairo in what is surely the biggest match of the fifth round of Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Having lost their opening two matches, the Pharaohs have begun to turn things around with a pair of victories over Botswana.
If they beat Senegal, they will move into second place in the group heading into the last round of fixtures.
Lose, however, and they would almost certainly be out of the running for a spot at the tournament proper.
Against the Lions of Teranga, Egypt need to seize the initiative and will likely attack their West African rivals. They must be aware, however, of the pace and incisive movement of the Senegalese forwards—the likes of Diafra Sakho, Sadio Mane and Mame Biram Diouf could do a great deal of damage on the counter-attack.
One suspects the defensive nous of Ahmed Fathi will be crucial, although it remains to be seen how the versatile player will be used. With Mohamed Abdel-Shafi absent, the Umm Salal man might be required to fill-in on the left.
The ex-Hull City man’s experience will likely also be invaluable for Shawky Gharib’s young and under-pressure Pharaohs side.
Ikechukwu Uche
4 of 5
For Nigeria’s last 25 matches, Ikechukwu Uche has been out in the cold.
The last time he featured for the national side was in the final of the 2013 Cup of Nations, where he delivered an anonymous performance.
A combination of his on-field impotency and his off-field tensions with Stephen Keshi have led to an extended spell in the international wilderness.
Crucially, however, the Super Eagles have neither been prolific in his absence, nor has he struggled away from the national side.
Since he last represented Nigeria, he has scored an impressive 17 goals in La Liga—for the record, the Super Eagles aren’t blessed with forwards hitting that number of goals in Europe’s major leagues.
Now 30, Uche has returned to the team.
Can he begin to make up for lost time (as Peter Odemwingie did momentarily during the summer) and prove that Keshi was wrong to ignore him for so long?
Kolo Toure
5 of 5
Ivorian defender Kolo Toure hasn’t spent as long in the international wilderness as Uche—he featured for the Elephants at the World Cup this summer—but there were those who doubted he would ever be back.
When Herve Renard took over after the brief excursion to Brazil, I was among those who anticipated the ex-Zambia boss would lick the West Africans into shape.
However, the Ivory Coast have the worst defensive record of any African nation at this point in the AFCON qualifying series—having conceded 10—and a whole host of new defenders have struggled to replace the departed veterans.
So, on the back of his fine Champions League showing for Liverpool against Real Madrid, the veteran stopper has been recalled to the international side.
Can his experience guide the Elephants to the continental high table, or will the bumbling past-his-prime Kolo that we saw far too often for the Reds last season return?
