Posts Tagged ‘Kwadwo Asamoah’

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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Africa’s Most Wanted

Posted: June 17, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Football, Africans Abroad
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Salim profiles six African players who could be making a move this summer:

Bruno Ecuele Manga

His all-round ability, particularly his aerial dominance, makes Manga an ideal signing for most English Premier league clubs.

Sometimes sheer numbers do not lie. Laurent Koscielny particularly stood out during his time at Lorient, and alerted the blind-vision of Arsene Wenger, initially because of his impressive statistics: 328 clearances and 159 interceptions -  which were more than any other defender in Ligue 1 in the 2009/2010 season.

The replacement for the Arsenal-bound defender came in the form of Gabon international Bruno Ecuele Manga from Ligue 2 outfit Angers. In the 2011/2012 season, despite Lorient finishing just 1 point above the relegation zone, the Lorient defence conceded only 14 goals at home all season, the 2nd joint least in Ligue 1. Manga has continued the Koscielny legacy, just like he did in his debut season, and was second in clearances stakes in Europe with the 378 clearances in total, behind Stoke great Ryan Shawcross.

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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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Africa Cup of Nations 2012: Predictions

Posted: January 19, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Cup of Nations 2012, African Football
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As you would know, if you’ve been following our coverage of the Africa Cup of Nations 2012, it’s nearly time for Africa. And it’s time for us to predict on some of the outcomes over the coming weeks, including the most important of them all – who will win it? This is the chance for you to laugh at us in a couple of weeks (and beyond), when it’s all over, and know who’s judgement to trust in future, perhaps. The bad news is some of the team couldn’t make predictions due to academic commitments. The good news is we’ve gone to the trouble of recruiting Tom Legg, East African football connoisseur, to add rich knowledge to more than compensate for the loss of it.

Here is the full panel for the predictions:

Tom Legg – Tom is an East African Football enthusiast and expert – and I’m not saying ‘expert’ just for the sake of it, you only need to cast an eye here for his revolutionary chalkboard-tactical pieces, something I’m pretty confident hasn’t been done previously for East African teams. For further reading of his expert reports and tactical analyses you can visit his blog Eastern Promise and follow him on twitter.

Salim – Editor and co-founder of this humble site, he’s just normal and obsessed with all things football.

James -  Co-founder and writer, 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 – Making his debut appearance, Joe is the recent addition to the squad, expect detailed and intellectually-stimulating pieces sometime soon from him.

Kevin – Another debutant, Kevin, who’s Ghanaian, is one of the two members on the team with a native nation to support at the ACN. You can expect hilarious material from him so long as this blog exists.

Tom aside, the rest of us are regular writers on this blog and need little introduction. If you’re not familiar with us, you can read more about us here.

To the business at hand!

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Meet the Potential Stars of the Africa Cup of Nations 2012: Part 2

Posted: January 17, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Cup of Nations 2012, African Football
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A few days ago I, Salim, unveiled the first part of  ‘Meet the Potential Stars of Africa Cup of Nations 2012‘. Here, I bring it all home with the second and final part. Enjoy, ladies and gentlemen. Thank me later.

Bruno Ecuele Manga (23, Lorient & Gabon Centre-Back)

When Laurent Koscielny left Lorient for Arsenal, Lorient’s replacement for him came in the form of Bruce Ecuele Manga. What made Koscielny particularly standout at his time at Lorient, and alert Arsene Wenger, were his impressive statistics: 328 clearances and 159 interceptions -  which were more than any other defender in Ligue 1 in the 2009/2010 season.

Called 'Manga' but he doesn't look like someone from a Japanese comic.

Manga has continued that legacy and is third in the rankings of the defenders with the most clearances with 10 clearances per game this season. Clearances aren’t everything, of course, and Manga’s game isn’t limited to merely clearances – he is aerially very dominant and won’t shirk a battle, his performance in Lorient’s shock 1-0  away win against PSG was outstanding. Lorient, who are 10th in the league at the time of writing, have only conceded 4 goals at home this season – the joint-lowest in the league and Manga has been an ever-present. His backs-to-the-wall defending may very well come in handy, especially if Gabon are to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

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