Sides across Serie A and beyond are set to lose some of their stars as major competition kicks off in the Ivory Coast. Giancarlo Rinaldi takes a look at who Calcio fans can follow as AFCON gets underway.
I like to imagine them all getting aboard a Sunday-league-style minibus as it tootles around various pick-up points across the country. You would only need a 20-odd seater to carry Italy’s deputation to the Africa Cup of Nations in the Ivory Coast this year. Victor Osimhen – as the biggest name of the group – would surely be allowed to sit up the back and pick the tunes as they settle down and travel full speed ahead to Abidjan.
Indeed, it will be the Napoli star who heads up the Serie A supporters’ team of choice at the competition set to start on January 13. He leads a three-strong Nigerian deputation which also includes Milan‘s Samuel Chukuwueze and Atalanta‘s Ademola Lookman. They should give the three-time AFCON winners a sizzling attack that ought to take them deep into the tournament. However, their recent form has been cause for concern and the Super Eagles will hope to put that behind them and take flight towards the knockout phases at the very least.
Another side with a triple Italy-based threat is Algeria who boast Chukuweze’s Rossoneri teammate Ismael Bennacer, Roma‘s Hossem Aouar and Lecce’s Ahmed Touba. There is no doubt Stefano Pioli will wince slightly at the thought of his midfield metronome heading off on international duty as he has only just got him back from injury this season. Aouar, for his part, has struggled to feature much under José Mourinho with Touba having a similar fate at the Via del Mare. Having impressed as winners in 2019 – but flopped in their title defence – a strong-looking squad still has plenty to prove.
The final team, with a trio of players with Italian connections, is Equatorial Guinea, although they are dotted across divisions. Jose Machin is part of the Monza squad in Serie A here but has been largely used as a substitute this term while teenage defender Hugo Buyla is part of Serie B Sampdoria‘s youth set-up. You have to trawl even further down the tables to find Oscar Siafa who has managed a couple of goals playing as a centre-forward for Serie C strugglers Alessandria. A major tournament with their country might well be a welcome break for all three.
The only other nations taking more than a single star are the Democratic Republic of Congo – with Ascoli’s Brian Bayeye and Cremonese’s wonderfully-named Charles Pickel – and hosts Ivory Coast with the better-known Christian Kouamé of Fiorentina and Evan Ndicka of Roma. The latter look well-equipped to progress to the later stages of the competition but AFCON has not been particularly kind to countries playing at home over the years. It has been 18 years since Egypt won and since then the hosts have always drawn a blank.
With M’Bala Nzola of Fiorentina deciding to stay at home, Cagliari‘s Zito Luvumbo will be Angola’s only Serie A player. Other names of note are André-Frank Zambo-Anguissa of Napoli with Cameroon, Salernitana‘s Jovane Cabral (Cape Verde), Lassana Coulibaly (Mali) and Boulaye Dia (Senegal), Bologna‘s Oussama El Azzouzi (Morocco) and Lecce’s Hamza Rafia (Tunisia) and Lameck Banda (Zambia). Rounding out the delegation is Modena’s Abdoul Guiebre with Burkina Faso.
It means that fans of Calcio should have an interest across all six groups of the competition and, most likely, into its later stages. Although that fascination is liable to be mixed with apprehension as they watch events unfold in the middle of the league season. Followers of at least 15 Italian clubs will be hoping their players return uninjured to boost their fortunes when the final whistle blows on the last match in the tournament on 11 February. Coming back with the trophy would be a nice boost, of course, but getting them back in one piece will surely be the top priority.
Twitter: @Ginkers
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