Opinion
With the A-League one week away, coaches and scouts have an excuse not to be fully concentrating this weekend as the greatest tournament for signing unknown players in Australia returns to Adelaide: the African Nations Cup.
The Cup was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the tournament has returned bigger and better for 2021 – with the most players and teams it’s ever had.
The event is held in conjunction with the African Communities Council of South Australia, as well as Football Federation of South Australia.
Local, interstate and international coaches and scouts will have the chance to see 29 teams and 600-plus players in action.
It is a great chance for recruiters to unearth the next budding star, while taking in the food and atmosphere that only the African Cup of Nations brings.
This tournament also coincides with the 20-year anniversary of its commencement and organisers are hopeful of high attendance figures as both men’s and women’s sides will compete in rain-drenched Adelaide.
A highlight for spectators will be the tournament’s opening and closing ceremonies, which will be a colourful and noisy sight for those uninitiated with African culture.
There are a lot of players who have been discovered at this tournament that have gone on to sign professional contracts: Al Hassan Toure, Elvis Kamsoba, Thomas Deng and Hosine Bility to name just a few.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Liberia is the most successful country in the tournament with five victories and have won two of the last three tournaments and will be heavily favoured to add a sixth, but there are a couple of sides that could be dark horses.
Zimbabwe look very good on paper with a blend of youth and experience – they have been beefed up with players from the SA NPL.
Tatenda Nyaruwe, Chicco Nyirenda and Michael Gela are all from the Croydon Kings as well as Russell Muzinda from Adelaide Raiders and Tapa Junior from Adelaide Victory.
Somalia is a side I feel most fans will want to do well, although they’ve never been past the quarter-finals. The Ocean Stars will be the youngest side at this tournament.
Fifteen-year-olds Zakariyah Abdullahi and Bailey O’Neil are already starting to attract A-League interest and they have a strong group of players including Ibrahim Ali, Adbi Mahamud and Charlie Deverux.
Every tournament has a group of death and the winner of the tournament will likely come from the deadly Group D.
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
It contains three countries that have won the Cup multiple times and have all been talked about as going very far this tournament – Liberia, Sierra Leona and Sudan – as well as two very competitive sides in DR Congo and Uganda.
Every match in Group D is a must-win for all the sides competing and spectators will experience a roller coaster of emotions from the country’s supporters, as traditional heavyweights will likely not make it out of this group.
The women’s tournament will have only five teams in Liberia, South Sudan, Guinea, Burundi and ‘The Horn of Africa’, which is a combined side that will feature women from Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea.
Liberia have won the past two tournaments and are favourites to make it a three-peat this year. They will face tough competition from the South Sudanse women for the title though.
The passion of the supporters is one of the best selling points of Adelaide’s African Nations Cup – a tradition being that whichever country wins the Cup, its own supporters run onto the field and celebrate together with the players.
Group A
Guinea, South Sudan, Togo, Kenya, Malawi
Group B
Ethiopia, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria
Group C
Burundi, Rwanda, RSA, Zimbabwe, Egypt
Group D
Liberia, Sierra Leona, Sudan, DR Congo, Uganda
Liberia, South Sudan, Guinea, Burundi and ‘The Horn of Africa’
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