Cameroon have a top class striker. But for some reason he's a benchwarmer under Broos. Hopefully no more. And stop talking smack about African defending. Cameroon mostly defended very well and even the best defences can make mistakes here and again. Cameroon thoroughly deserved the trophy. Maybe Burkina Faso as well. But now I'm frightened... 2014 and 2010 Cameroon were a disgrace. Now they are going to the Confed Cup. Hopefully they play with the same grit and determination of eras past. Also best final at a major tournamentI've seen in over a decade.
Congrats to Cameroon. Their level of self belief in Africa is second-to-none. I hope they really enjoy this cup because they ain't going to the WC
I'm an African, love African football to bits, but the historical fact is that most of our teams cannot defend well consistently enough. Nigeria have never beaten the USA because of this. I think Cameroon or South Africa got embarrassed by the USA as well not too long ago. We are known for giving up soft goals. Anyway, I agree about the final. Very good final with free flowing football and 3 great goals.
I'm just saying Cameroon have defended pretty well the entire tournament If teams didn't make errors then no one would score goals.
Just FYI Bassogog with player of the tournament. Him, Fai and Oyongo obviously massively improved their credentials on the back of this tournament. All the no shows may now no longer be wanted... Matip included.
Pretty sure we'll see Aboubakars goal in the Puskas award nominees for 2017. Importance check. Difficulty level check. Eye-catching check.
The best goalscoring rate in EPL history was reported some time back (only included players with 10 goals or more). The rest is from Transfermarkt, Whoscored, Squawka. So as to avoid doubt: I included national team goals and assists.
I think that even bigger than that is the lack of clinical finishing as someone mentioned earlier. We've seen top international sides with some weaknesses at the back either through attrition or just lack of experience go through because their attack is so potent that opponents can either never gain possession or they're so afraid of getting scored on that they rarely venture out in attack themselves. Africa has good defenders, but they often don't intimidate their opponents and have to weather long spells of pressure because they don't make their opponents pay often enough when they're thin at the back. There's a balance between stingy and clean (cardless) defending and strong and clinical attacking. CAF teams can help their defenses by putting away their chances.
Good post. Iheanacho is 20. Drogba is my favorite player but noone knew who he was at 20. For all of his weaknesses, he is one thing that many African attackers are not... he's clinical and finishes chances. He's not getting a run with Pep because he plays off the ball more these days and Pep wants players who are more comfortable with the ball at their feet. He'd probably play Iwobi if the two switched clubs. Pep has stated that he wants Iheanacho to play more like Messi if he wants to get time. I don't know how realistic that is, especially given the positions that he plays him in when he finally does put him on. But the one slight positive sign is that, despite his lack of time, Pep (or City) also doesn't seem interested in selling him or even loaning him out (though I'd prefer one of those options at this point, even with a lesser club, but mostly out of the Premier League. I'd felt that he'd regret not starting his career in Portugal with Sporting). Now this could be that they just don't have enough depth at striker and like to keep him around in reserve, but City isn't exactly averse these days to simply buying options. City has a history of not giving opportunities to their academy products of which Iheanacho is nominally one. Most City fans on boards still want to see him get more time, if only to finally develop a young player who they do not have to pay to acquire and finally start building value through internal mechanisms. Iheanacho is the first test of this process and it hasn't been as successful in the wake of the new manager. Noone else has been called up and it doesn't look likely that Pep is considering it. One thing City fans are supportive of, given Iheanacho's current sitch, is loaning him out for the season. And I don't get stating that Iheanacho's not a good passer, this is one of the strong points of his game. He's a great passer of the ball. His dribbling and first touch are his current issues. Not his passing. Anyways. I should probs take this over to either the Nigeria or WC Qual forum. In fact I think I'll copy this entire post over to there now. Congrats to Cameroon. We will meet in a few months...
To think that Cameroon came within an inch of getting knocked out in the group stage when Gabon hit the post in injury time. After that game I felt they were destined to win. It was kind of reminiscent of when Zambia won.
1. That is the difference between us and World Cup glory. The face of Nigeria is a squad player- two strikers away from starting in a one-striker team. If he leaves I don't know if he will do better than Jordan Ayew (in terms of stature of club not ability). *** 2.It's pointless to argue the age. If Iheanacho is the leader for Nigeria then that is the ceiling we set for him. Until he achieves this let's dial back on the hype. Good young players are so many in football not all can handle the expectation. Let's wait and see if he will win UEFA CL like Drogba and Eto'o *** 3.I have seen Iwobi, he's not a creator. Only South Africa and the Maghreb countries truly have creators in Africa that can go compete at a World Cup. Nigeria will be counter-attacking to get 4 points in the group, like every African team ever. Like I said, Algeria has shown to be awful and when you played Egypt twice you couldn't win. Let's dial back and see the rest of WCQ (two more games atleast)
First off he's still only 20 and we're talking about potential. And his direct competition is Aguero and the best striking talent Brazil have had in 10+ years. And Iheanacho is not the face of the new Nigeria squad. He is one of them along with Victor Moses and Alex Iwobi. And most likely Wilfried Ndidi. In a year or so likely also Kelechi Nwakali. Also: The discussion was about CAF, not World Cup performance. Name me one striker from Africa that isn't Aubemeyang that has such potential as Iheanacho? CL trophy is a team win, not an individual one. Ibrahimovic for example never won the Champions League. And so far his record of achievement is second to none. And thats despite a coach whose system he doesn't fit. Uhm... yes, he is. In the traditional mode. Much like Kelechi Nwakali. The countries you mention don't have creators, as in they don't create for others. They dribble past a player or two. play a flick or two and thus make a chance for themselves or space for their partner. Iwobi and Nwakali create with ball retention, passing the ball, interplay.
lol @ Iwobi is a creator.. Yo if thats the case, that would explain Arsenal's rash of terrible form. He's not a terrible wide mid, but he's not a creator, no sir.