Monday, December 31, 2012
Top African players missing out of the upcoming Nations Cup
Since the inception of the African Cup of Nations also known
as African Nations Cup in 1957, the competition has grown to become one of
Africa’s main football competitions. In the coming year which is a few hours
away, South Africa will have the honor of hosting the 29th edition
of the competition and as it is the norm, the winner will qualify for the 2013 FIFA
Confederations
Cup in Brazil as the representative from CAF in group B along with
Spain, Uruguay and Tahiti.
Among the 16 nations (South Africa, Ghana, Mali, Zambia,
Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Morocco, Togo, Niger,
Angola, Algeria, Congo DR, and Burkina Faso) that will be represented in the competition,
here is a list of star players that will miss out of the 2013 competition.
Nigeria:
-Osaze Odemwingie: ever since Stephen Keshi took over as
coach of the National team, the issue between the West Brom Albion striker and Keshi
has not been quite clear, however, his exclusion from the team did set off a
lot of alarm, all is not well between these two. One thing we are all sure of
is that they both have the interest of the country at heart; the last time he
played for Nigeria was during the match against Rwanda in February. Odemwingie
did not spare Keshi as he took to twitter after Keshi released his 32-man-squad which left him out of the competition, Keshi however maintains that there is nothing personal and
he is just doing his job.
-Kalu Uche:
Kalu who currently plays for Turkish side Kasimpasa is also one of the Uche
brothers, he will miss out of the competition while his brother Ike Uche made
the list. Kalu scored two World Cup goals in South Africa for Nigeria in 2010.
-Obafemi Martins: 28-year-old
striker Martins who currently plays for Spanish side Levante was not enlisted
for the Nigerian national team even after he was present in the friendly against
Venezuela in November and helped in securing the 3-1 for the national team. Martin’s
wonderful performance at Levante where he scored 6 goals in 14 appearances was
good enough to secure an invite for a friendly but apparently not for the
Nations Cup. Martins goal in the 83rd minute during the match against Kenya in
Nairobi helped Nigeria qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
-Danny Shittu: Millwall
defender Shittu who was initially named in the Super Eagles 32-man-squad will
not make it to the competition as the defender wants to concentrate on his club’s
push for promotion to the English Premier League. Nigeria’s Coach, Keshi has accepted
a request from Nigerian-born player not to be considered for the African Cup of
Nations "Stephen Keshi has agreed Danny Shittu
can stay away from the Nations Cup after he called him," the Super Eagles
media officer Ben Alaiya said. However, before Keshi’s comment, the Nigerian
Football Federation rejected Shittu’s request and they were even ready to take
it up to FIFA.
-Shola Ameobi: After
several attempts to get him to play for the country of his birth, Ameobi would
have made this dream come to fruition but for the contract he signed with Newcastle
two years ago that says he will
not play at the tournament while still at Newcastle. Aside from this
restriction, the looming departure of fellow striker Demba Ba means Ameobi is
the only senior striker for Newcastle. After representing England at the junior
international level, the 31-year-old striker finally agreed to bring his years
of experience to aid the Nigerian team, but unless team manager Pardew changes his
mind to allow the Nigerian striker who has appeared in more matches for
Newcastle than any member of the club’s current squad, we might as well
consider his invitation void.
Other players that
will be missing out include Taye Taiwo (currently plays for Dynamo Kiev) and
longtime assistant goal-keeper for the national team Dele Aiyenugba who now
plays for Israeli club Bnei Yehuda.
GHANA:
-Michael
Essien: ace Chelsea player who now plays for Real Madrid after suffering several injuries is gradually returning to the tracks. He however ruled himself
unavailable for international matches right after Ghana qualified for the Nations
Cup. Essien was absent for the qualifiers as well, and while he has been a
long support for the national team, it is quite unclear if team’s coach Kwesi
Appiah would have even considered him for the team as they are looking to build
the team with a much younger set of players.
MOROCCO
-Adel Taarabt:
23-year-old Moroccan midfielder who plays for Queens Park Rangers will not be
present at the 2013 AFCON competition. Taaradbt was rejected by team’s coach
Rachid Taoussi who said that Taarabt refused to meet him when he travelled to
London to visit the player.
-Marouane Chamakh:
Arsenal striker Marouane was also not named on coach Taoussi list even after Chamakh
scored the second goal in a 4–0 win over Algeria in qualification for the 2012
Africa Cup of Nations. In 2010, Chamakh captained the national team for the
first time in a 2–1 win over the Equatorial Guinea. It is clear that coach Taoussi
has not place for mediocre player, we only hope his search for perfection helps
the team in the right direction.
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