Posts Tagged ‘John Boye’

Cup of Nations 2013: 10 Defenders to watch out for

Posted: January 11, 2013 by SFG in Africa Cup of Nations 2013
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Khune is ready for the big stage


Itumeleng Khune

Kaizer Chiefs/South Africa

25 years old/Goalkeeper

Standing at just 5’11″, the Kaizer Chiefs’ goalkeeper will probably be the shortest undisputed number one goalkeeper at the tournament, but his superhuman shot-stopping, which can shatter the confidence of the opposition in front of goal, will compensate for his lack of height and reduce any worries to nothingness. What’s more, Khune has the incredible distribution that is enough to consider him a playmaker in his own right. You could simply say it’s because he played outfield before he made the transition to goal, but Ryan Shawcross plays outfield and he can’t do what Khune does. His pinpoint distribution isn’t only useful when igniting a counter-attack but also finds South Africa’s teeny tricksters in congested central areas of the pitch. SFG won’t lie to you: there is a severe whiff of one-for-the-cameras about his shot-stopping but by the end of the tournament he could, if he isn’t already, become a symbol of idolatry.

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Atsuto Uchida shines, Mahamadou Diarra fully returns

Posted: March 19, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in Africans Abroad
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Each week our team will attempt to watch a few matches around the world and then write something resembling a ramble or review. This won’t be a round-up of who scored, we’ll actually be watching as many games as possible involving African and Asian players, and any other players, really – (after all, everyone is from Africa, if scientists are to be believed!) – and we will then report back our findings. We will endeavour to do this weekly but some weeks it may not be possible.

Uchida shines for Schalke

I’ve watched a lot of football matches this past week but none have come close to being as entertaining as the Europa League clash between Schalke and FC Twente on Thursday. With the match televised on ITV4 and it being the Europa League,  I had low expectations, but the beauty of football is you should always expect the unexpected. After Twente taking an early lead, Schalke needed to score 3 goals to overturn a two-goal aggregate deficit and progress into the quarter-finals.

It was a gigantic task, but they did it with a swashbuckling 4-1 win. Aside from Robin Van Persie, there is another Dutch striker who ‘scores when he wants’ in the form of Klaas Jan Huntelaar. The klaasy (sorry) striker has scored 38 goals in 38 games this season, scoring a hat-trick on the night with some emphatic finishing. One of the stars of the show, though, was Japanese right-back Atsuto Uchida. After an uncertain first half, he battled through the second half and controlled the right-wing with Jefferson Farfan, putting in a tireless shift of defensive astuteness and productive forward runs. It was his smart reverse pass which found Raul Gonzalez who cleverly back-heeled for Huntelaar to finish off another chance.

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Reflections of a Friendly Eye: Chile v Ghana

Posted: March 3, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Football
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Chile and Ghana played out an entertaining 1-1 draw in the torrential rain in New Jersey, USA, Richard Mpong and Matias Fernandez – from the penalty spot – on the scoresheet for the respective countries. Chile deployed a fascinating, Football Manager-esque 3-2-3-2 formation, the combative Gary Medel and the metronomic Marcelo ‘South American Xavi’ Diaz forming the double pivot in midfield to protect the back three.

Ghana stuck with their usual 4-2-3-1 system rather than the disastrous 4-6-0 experimented in the 3rd/4th place play-off at the recent Cup of Nations. Kwadwo Asamoah began on the left whilst Sulley Muntari played in an attacking-midfield role behind USA-based debutant striker, Dominic Oduro (who was taken off early on with an injury and replaced by Ghana-based debutant goalscorer Richard Mpong), the other Ghana-based debutant striker, Emmanuel Baffour, was shunted out on the right-wing despite not appearing truly comfortable in that position. Palermo’s Afriyie Acquah, another debutant, didn’t do his chances any harm with a steady performance in a second-half cameo.

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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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