African Cup of Nations 2010: Just-Football’s Tournament Best XI

As the dust settles on the 2010 African Cup of Nations, Essam El-Hadary climbs down from his crossbar celebrating and Egypt put their trophy back in the cabinet, it is time for me to name my Best XI of the tournament. This year is slightly different to the last Cup of Nations. In Ghana I had to pick a team of the tournament and a second team, such was the plethora of top quality performers in 2008. This time around, for various reasons, I think its fair to say the individual quality on display wasn’t as good. Therefore a situation arose where some positions were full of candidates for a Best XI of the tournament, while in other areas (i.e. strikers) the competition was scarce. Anyway, on with the show – here is my 2010 African Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament:

Formation (4-3-1-2):

Essam EL-HADARY (Egypt)

Egypt’s number one has won the official goalkeeper of the tournament award three times running at the African Cup of Nations now and it is not hard to see why. A commanding presence, excellent shot stopper and an absolute lunatic when it comes to celebrating a goal, Essam El-Hadary proved once again that he is amongst the best keepers in Africa.

Ahmed AL-MUHAMMADI (Egypt)

A danger to every left back he faced, Ahmed Al-Muhammadi was a constant menace in Angola, tearing down the right hand side with pace and boundless energy. The ENPPI man slotted perfectly into Hassan Shehata’s 3-5-2 system, defending well when needed and causing havoc with the surging runs he provided time after time. The 22-year-old’s performances have alerted several European clubs including Sunderland, but for now it seems he remains at ENPPI.

Madjid BOUGHERRA (Algeria)

The Glasgow Rangers centre back was an inspiration to his teammates, as best witnessed in the way he almost singlehandedly dragged them back into the quarter final against Cote d’Ivoire. After Algeria’s dodgy start to the campaign, Bougherra’s drive and resolve spurred the team on and not only did he offer wildly committed defending but, with his trademark bursting runs forward and willingness to shoot, another attacking outlet when needed.

Wael GOMAA (Egypt)

The second player to make Just-Football’s team of the tournament in both 2008 and 2010, Wael Gomaa was once again an absolute rock for Egypt at the back and an influential voice in the dressing room to boot. A tough tackling no-nonsense centre half, Gomaa was again all action in Angola throwing himself into headers and tackles the more faint-hearted of defenders might not fancy. A popular figure amongst Egypt supporters and with his fierce commitment to the cause it isn’t hard to see why.

MABINA (Angola)

Simply put, one of the revelations of the tournament. From Day 1 Jose Pedro Alberto, aka Mabina, was a star at the African Cup of Nations with the lightning quick full back’s cutting edge, trickery and dynamism a feature of Angola’s play throughout. Though inexperienced at international level it required little time for the Angolan people to take Mabina to their hearts – by half time in the Angola 4-4 Mali game there was an audible buzz about the roving right back and by midway through the second game he was getting cheered whenever he touched the ball. Skilful, rapid and with impressively accurate crossing, it’d be a surprise if scouts weren’t sniffing around the Petro Atletico man already.

Peter ODEMWINGIE (Nigeria)

Forget John Obi Mikel, Yakubu or anyone else – Peter Odemwingie was Nigeria’s talisman and, to a certain extent, leader in Angola and one of the few Super Eagles to truly impress during the tournament. Absent for the 3-1 opening defeat to Egypt, Nigeria looked markedly more threatening as an attacking outfit with Odemwingie in the team. The Lokomotiv Moscow forward brought skill, pace and a goal threat to a an otherwise fairly pedestrian front line.

Emmanuel AGYEMANG-BADU (Ghana)

A lot was said about the impressive maturity such a young Ghana team showed at this competition and one of the players who best embodied that contrast was Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu. Not long a full international, Agyemang-Badu started every game for Ghana at the African Cup of Nations and performed so admirably at the heart of midfield that few people even made mention of the absence of Michael Essien. Strong in the tackle, composed, athletic and good on the ball, Udinese’s new signing continues to impress me. The 19-year-old was a star at the 2009 Under-20 World Cup and a star in Angola.

Seydou KEITA (Mali)

Though the players around him were no great shakes as Mali crashed out at the group stage, Seydou Keita showed through his performances in Angola exactly why he is an important component of the best club side in the world. His perseverance and drive was the catalyst in Mali’s incredible 4-4 comeback against Angola, he provided a constant outlet for his teammates, spraying passes around the FC Barcelona way, and he weighed in with one of the goals of the tournament against Malawi with an absolute r
ocket of a free-kick. Though his team disappointed, Seydou Keita was his usual high standard.

Mohamed ‘GEDO’ Nagy (Egypt)

The new Mohamed Aboutreika. The similarities between absent talisman Aboutreika and new kid on the block Gedo were frightening. The same grace on the ball, the same positions they took up, the same movement – all the way down to the same calm, decisive slide rule finish against Cameroon after a defensive error (Aboutreika in the 2008 final, Gedo in the 2010 quarters) and the same single winning goal in the final (Aboutreika in 2006 and 2008, now Gedo). The only difference was that Gedo hardly even played, coming off the bench in every single one of Egypt’s games and yet scoring in all but one of them. Supersub and Golden Boot winner, Mohamed Gedo is Egypt’s newest sensation.

FLAVIO (Angola)

Quick-witted Angolan striker Flavio started the tournament in electric form banging in two goals against Mali to send the Luandan crowd crazy and another against Malawi. So it was a real shame that he picked up an injury in that Malawi game and struggled to have any further impact on the competition. Flavio missed the Algeria game and though he played in the quarter final the 30-year-old was clearly only half-fit. Nevertheless his leadership skills, sprightliness and impressive aerial ability – not to mention goals – were enough for me to consider him one of the tournament’s top strikers.

Mohamed ZIDAN (Egypt)

Mohamed Zidan is a strange one for me. Clearly a talent, he tends to overdo the histrionics sometimes for me to really consider him a top player. I sometimes question whether the Borussia Dortmund striker is more concerned with attention-seeking than he is improving his game (the 2008 Cup of Nations was a classic case in point – majestic when Egypt beat Cameroon 4-2 in the opening game, he was next seen in a barber shop shaving a ‘Z’ into his hair and talking about being the new Zidane. Unsurprisingly he was soon dropped.). However it must be said that in Angola, Zidan was superb when called upon. He only scored one goal, but the 28-year-old grew as the tournament went on, tormenting Algeria in the semi final and then combining beautifully with Gedo for the tournament’s winning goal. A silky flair player, Egypt benefitted greatly from his flamboyance.

Substitutes:

Richard Kingson (Ghana)
Samuel Inkoom (Ghana)
Isaac Vorsah (Ghana)
Jacob Mulenga (Zambia)
Christopher Katongo (Zambia)
Karim Ziani (Algeria)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Djalma (Angola)

What do you think? Anyone I’ve left out who should be included? There are some pretty notable absentees here – this tournament wasn’t really one for the household names of Africa all of whom disappointed for various reasons (Samuel Eto’o played in midfield (why Le Guen why?), Didier Drogba tired/carrying a knock etc).

(photo via Facebook)

African Cup of Nations 2010, African Football, Best XI, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, Essam El-Hadari, Wael Gomaa