Posts Tagged ‘Christopher Katongo’

50 of the Best African Players of 2012: 10-1

Posted: January 5, 2013 by Salim Masoud Said in African Football, Africans Abroad
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10. Christopher Katongo (Henan FC/Zambia) – It was the elder Katongo’s club form that saw him slip to 10th in our list. Katongo notched a respectable 9 goals for Chinese side Henan FC, but his contribution was not sufficient in salvaging his club’s fortune as they teetered down relegation avenue. On the international stage, Christopher Katongo was the vanguard of a once-in-a-lifetime cinderella story. He skippered the Chipolopolo to their first continental championship in Libreville-the exact location of the air disaster which stole the lives of 30 of the Copper Bullets’ finest 20 years earlier. A feat which saw him collect the BBC African Player of the Year award- the first ever granted to a Zambian player.

9. Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus/Ghana) -  ‘Kojo’, the former African Young Player of the Year (2010), has found development strikingly smooth. After blessing Francesci Guidolin’s midfield with industry and heart in Udine, Asamoah took to Turin in a brilliant career move. Asamoah snuck right into Conte’s 3-5-2 as a wing-back and carnage ensued. Kojo’s pace and power constitutes an immediate mismatch for opposing full-backs. Some liken him to Gareth Bale as his athleticism permits similar mazy runs. What’s certain is Juventus will miss the threat of their wing-back as Ghana look to capitalize on what could well be a world class player.

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Christopher Katongo is better than Lionel Messi

Posted: February 18, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Cup of Nations 2012, African Football
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Christopher Katongo is better than Lionel Messi. Messi is the best player in the world, that is undeniable, but he isn’t entertaining to watch any more, his zig-zag, mechanical runs are inevitable, functional and boring. One of the players better to watch than him is, of course, Christopher Katongo, Zambia’s fiery and lively captain and talisman in their Cup of Nations triumph, the official Player of the Tournament. Excitement-wise, Messi is Uncle Ben’s basmati rice while Katongo is Tilda basmati rice with a bottle of Supermalt. But even when you analyse the core of them as footballing men, Katongo is clearly the better footballer:

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SFG’s 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Awards

Posted: February 13, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Cup of Nations 2012, African Football
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The hardest thing about football is finding a replacement for it when it’s all over because there just  isn’t any, especially as we quite simply witnessed one of the greatest major tournaments of all-time. So we decided to do half-review, half-awards bash to cherish what we’ve just witnessed. Tom Legg, East African football coinosseur, is back and he is joined by Steve of Spirit of Mirko, an African football enthusiast, both of these guys have been providing excellent Cup of Nations coverage,

Here is the panel for the awards:

Tom – Tom is an East African football enthusiast and expert and has produced some fantastic tactical pieces during the Cup of Nations. For further reading of his expert reports and tactical analyses you can visit his blog Eastern Promise and follow him on twitter.

Steve – Steve is an African football enthusiast, Cardiff City supporter and founder of the brilliant, Guardian-nominated 100-football-blogs-to-follow blog Spirit of Mirko which deals with football’s trivialities, curiosities and statistics, although has also diversified into African football recently with enlightening pieces like this. You can follow him on twitter.

Salim – Editor and co-founder of this humble site, Salim is obsessed with all things football and has been watching the Cup of Nations religiously.

James -  Co-founder and writer, video-producer extraordinaire and the strategist behind our marketing ploys.

Sagar – Editor and writer, has a fetish for fringe players and is equally knowledgeable in the field of cricket.

Amro – Editor and co-founder, his current dream is that Zico will lead Iraq to Brazil in 2014 so he can join the samba party.

Joe – Writer,  a recent addition to the team, he has a fine eye for tactical detail and has already done some brilliant pieces of analysis.

Kevin – Writer, Kevin is one of the two members on the team who had a native nation to support at the Cup of Nations.  He’s still nursing the wounds of Ghana’s exit but the future is bright for the Black Stars.

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SFG’s Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament

Posted: February 13, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Cup of Nations 2012, African Football
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The excellent performers from the greatest tournament of all-time, ladies and gentlemen:

Kennedy Mweene (Zambia)

Although he was one of the most eccentric goalkeepers at the tournament, Mweene was – paradoxically – a calming presence to his team-mates, his confidence unflappable even when he flapped at crosses or had nervy moments. He was brave when he came out to collect or punch balls which were lofted into the box and his distribution was one of the best in the tournament.

Jean-Jacques Gosso (Ivory Coast)

Coming into the tournament, Gosso was barely a kitchen appliance name in an Ivory Coast squad filled with household names. Usually a defensive midfielder, he was deployed as a makeshift right-back due to fitness concerns over Emmanuel Eboue. It’s easy to understand why he was deployed there – his combative style often saw him come out on top in one-on-one duels and he joined in the Elephants’ attacks with forward runs of sheer doggedness, even though, understandably, his positioning was questionable.

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