Attacking stars often steal the limelight at the Africa Cup of Nations,
but in 2015 it is several defensive prospects who have caught the eye.
Diosdado Mbele Mba Mangue is a 17-year-old who earns a few hundred
Euros per month from his club, Leones Vegetarianos, in Malabo, but he
has been one of the revelations of this Africa Cup of Nations.
Mbele has played at the heart of Equatorial Guinea’s defence and,
although he was lucky to escape with a yellow card for his ‘tactical’
foul on Burkina Faso’s Jonathan Pitroipa on Wednesday, he has performed
very well.
There were high hopes for another teenager, South Africa’s Rivaldo
Coetzee, but he went off on a stretcher early in his team’s first game.
The Ghana full-back Baba Rahman has had an outstanding season for
Augsburg in the Bundesliga and is apparently wanted by Roma.
Marseille’s Cameroonian Nicolas N’Koulou has been earning rave reviews,
and Algeria expect much of Aissa Mandi (Stade Reims) and Faouzi Ghoulam
(Napoli).
Mali’s Molla Wague, on loan to Udinese from Granada, has not had a
great season with his club but he looked impressive against Cameroon.
What is going on? Is Africa beginning to produce good defenders – something it has never been noted for before?
The list of Africa’s greatest defenders would not be a long one. Sammy
Kuffour, the Ghanaian who was a Champions League winner with Bayern
Munich and scorer of the goal that won them the Club World Championship
in 2001, is out on his own at the top.
He would be followed, in no particular order, by Lucas Radebe (South
Africa), Noureddine Naybet (Morocco), Taribo West, Celestine Babayaro (Nigeria), Rigobert
Song (Cameroon) and Kolo Toure, who is still going strong for Ivory
Coast and performed well in their opening game against Guinea.
One man who should know whether defending is becoming more popular on a
continent where everyone wants to be a striker is Herve Renard. The
Ivory Coast coach fielded three more promising young defenders alongside
Toure against Guinea – Serge Aurier of Paris Saint-Germain at
right-back, Wilfried Kanon of ADO Den Haag at left-back, and Espanyol's
Eric Bailly in the middle. Between them they do not even have a quarter
of Toure’s caps.
“Maybe there are more defenders good enough to play in Europe now,”
Renard told Goal. “Fifteen years ago speed was not as important as it is
now for defenders. They must be fast, as well as physical. Most African
defenders are both.
“African defenders are naturally powerful, they have improved the
tactical aspect, and we all need fast defenders. That is what has
changed.”
The one who stands out to Renard is N’Koulou. “His partnership with
Stephen M’Bia [the defensive midfielder just ahead of him] is a perfect
combination of skill, power and experience. Sometims N’Koulou doesn’t
look like a defender at all – he reminds me of Laurent Blanc.”
-GNA/ATS
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