The 9th of January to the 6th of February 2022 are the dates to remember when speaking about the exciting 33rd Afcon edition (AFCON 2021) which was held at Yaounde, Cameroon, where 24 nations came to battle for one price, to be crowned Kings of Africa.
Just like any other
tournament, Afcon 2021 had its own highs and lows, there are some things that impressed viewers and sponsors like the rising of new stars, and some which did not impress at all, and somehow were likely to tarnish the name of the tournament.
For the first time in the history of Afcon, Rwanda’s
Salina Mukasanga made history by becoming the first woman referee to officiate at the tournament. She officiated the AFCON 2021 Group B clash between Zimbabwe and Guinea at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde on 17 January.
New names were also known and made across Africa adding to the likes of Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah to name a few. Burkina Faso’s star who is currently in the books of Manchester City but playing at League 1, France on loan Issa Kabore rose against the odds and deservedly earned the best young player of the tournament after his outstanding performance with his country which finished 4th at the tournament.
Cameroon captain
Vincent Aboubakar also proved to be a thorn to many nations, and a star to be recognized as he broke the record that was set by the likes of South Africa legend Benni McCarthy of scoring more goals in a single Afcon tournament (6 goals) in 1998. Aboubakar contributed to 10 goals of Cameroon’s goals at the tournament, 8 goals and 2 assists, and being one goal short of breaking the record held by the deceased Congolese Ndaye Mulamba since 1974.
Senegal coach
Aliou Cisse is amongst the names to remember at Afcon 2021, after winning the tournament on his third appearance at the tournament final, he lost it in 2002 as a player after missing a penalty that handed Cameroon the cup, and in 2019 as a coach when losing to Algeria. Cisse won the trophy after making 2 final appearances in less than 4 years, and he was named best Manager of the tournament.
Other individual awards were given to Edward Mendy, Chelsea and Senegal goalkeeper who was named goalkeeper of the tournament, Sadio Mane of Senegal was named player of the tournament, Issa Kabore of Burkina Faso was named best young player of the tournament and Vincent Aboubakar walked away with the golden boot.
During the 33rd edition of Afcon,there was the rising of new names which caused havoc at the tournament, the rising of Comoros which were eliminated on the last 16 stages in their first Afcon campaign. They were eliminated in the last 16 stages after their goalkeeping department was hit hard by covid-19 few days before their game, their left-back Chaker Alhadhur was brave enough to step into the goalposts in the absence of all goalkeepers and performed quite well which left many impressed even though they lost the game, but he won the hearts of many.
The Indomitable Lions, Cameroon as the hosts also performed quite well on the losers final to secure the third spot and a bronze medal with a massive comeback against Burkina Faso. They were 3 goals down but fought in the last 15 minutes of the game to take it to extra time, from 3-0 down to 3-3 and winning it in penalties to clinch the third spot.
The final of Afcon 2021 was something else to watch, as both Egypt and Senegal were both making the 2nd Afcon appearances in the last 3 editions of the tournament, and both had lost their previous finals. Egypt which many believed to have been lucky enough to have reached the final by winning through penalty shoot-outs since the knockout stages of the tournament. On the other hand, the Afcon 2021 champions were also not favorites to win the trophy after they seemed to be struggling at the tournament yet they were table leaders from 3 games, won 1 and had 2 draws, scored 1 goal, and conceded zero, and obtained 5 points.
Senegal overpowered Egypt and won the game 4-2 on penalties to be crowned 2021 Africa kings and adding their name on the list to be the 14th nation to win the tournament. Both teams reached the finals after keeping clean sheets in 5 out of the 7 matches throughout the tournament.
The 2019 Afcon champions Algeria also shocked many after making an exit in the tournament in the group stages, , something which is not common in Afcon but common at World Cup tournament, as it has been a pattern since 2002 until now.