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A look at the best performing Africans at the 22nd FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
1xBet talks about the footballers whose great performance in the stadiums of Qatar gave unforgettable emotions to the entire continent.
Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia)
Money doesn’t play football - perhaps even the famous investor Warren Buffett will not argue with this statement. However, we were very pleased to see how Wahbi Khazri, the player of the Tunisia national team and the French Montpellier (transfer value -3 million euros according to Transfermarkt) receives the ball, avoids contact with Youssuf Fofana (€25 million), beats Rafael Varane (€40 million) and strikes Steve Mandand (€1.5 million) on goala quarter of a second before Axel Disasi (another €25m) crashes into his leg. The Moroccan team didn’t score other goals during this World Cup, but this ball ensured its victory over the current world champions!
It's amazing, but this smart, perfectly seeing-the-field, and two-footed footballer with good technique could come to Qatar as part of the French national team. He was born in Ajaccio, started playing in the football academy of this club, and spent almost his entire career in France. In 2011, he was first called up to the Le Bleus youth team, but Khazri's prospects in the French national team looked vague and two years later he played his first match for the Tunisia national team.
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In Qatar, Wahbi Khazri entered the starting lineup of histeam only in the final match of the group stage againstFrance (while he was entrusted with the captain'sarmband), scored only one goal, and after the matchannounced the end of his carrier for the national team. Well, shooter, you won't get a better shot.
Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal)
It was rather difficult to determine the best player in theSenegal squad. In the match against the Netherlands, weliked the actions of the defensive midfielders more - untilgoalkeeper Edouard Mendy made a mistake in the 84th minute, the opponent did not have shots on target. Qatar was the weakest team on Mundial, and in the 1/8 finalmatch against England, Senegal had no chances. So themost important game for the Lions of Teranga was againstEcuador and center-back Kalidou Koulibaly became themain character of this show.
In that match, Senegal took the lead after a penalty. However, in the 67th minute, something happened thatCoulibaly hardly wants to tell his grandchildren about: aftera corner, he failed to win the fight vs Felix Torres for thetop ball and Torres dropped to Caicedo who had only notto miss from arm's length.
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Just think: you are a huge (195 cm, 89 kg) centraldefender with a lot of experience at the highest level, youhave a contract with Chelsea and a captain's armband, and you are jumped over by some guy from the Mexicanclub Santos Laguna, which is 8 cm below you.
Fortunately for everyone, Kalidou rehabilitated himself injust three minutes, scoring the decisive goal after a free-kick. This ball proved to be the winner and helped Senegalqualify from the group, while FIFA recognized Koulibaly as"Man of the Match".
Must add that Kalidou entered the game with an unusualcaptain's armband: in memory of Papa Bouba Diop, the19th number was displayed on it. Diop helped Senegalreach the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup and diedexactly two years before the match against Ecuador. Also, the Senegalese carried a banner with a portrait of Diopand the inscription "True lion never dies" on the field.
Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)
Without any reservations, this Abubakar was the bestplayer in Cameroon in this World Cup and deserved theright to stay in Qatar for a longer period. In his first matchagainst Switzerland, the Saudi Al-Nasr player replacedErik Choupo-Moting in the 74th minute and didn’t havetime to influence the outcome of the match. In the nextgame, Vincent was released on the field as a firefighter - immediately after Serbia took a 3-1 lead. As a result, Cameroon gave a wonderful comeback: Abubakar scoredone of the most beautiful goals of this championship (didyou forget this incredible scoop?) and gave an assist toChoupo-Moting.
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And finally, the icing on the cake is the match against Brazil, which was deservedly considered one of the main contenders for the title. The Brazilians have two victories in two matches, a wonderful mood, and are beginning to methodically break the wall of the Indomitable Lions. However, they were not lucky - either because of the absence of several attacking leaders on the field or because of the brilliant play of goalkeeper Davis Epassi. But Abubakar was lucky - in the 92nd minute of the game his excellent dash into the opponent's penalty area ended with a cool header after Mbekeli's cross! Is it worth mentioning that Abubakar came to this match with the captain's armband?
Celebrating the goal scored, Abubakar took off his jersey. The referee did not want to punish him, but the rules arethe rules: Vincent received a second yellow card and wentto relax, shaking hands with the referee. For the first timein our lives, we saw how a sent-off player leave the fieldwith a joyful smile - Abubakar understood that he wasleaving the field as a hero who did everything possible forhis team to win.
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana)
The case when dreams come true - the scouts of theDanish club Nordsjælland noticed this guy at theGhanaian football academy with the catchy name Right toDream in 2018. Kudus made his debut in the club's seniorteam a few weeks before his 18th birthday, and two yearslater, Ajax Amsterdam bought his contract for 9 millioneuros - at that time it was a record amount paid for a teenager from Ghana.
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Ajax is known for its ability to develop young players andresell them to top clubs with great profit. We believe that inthe case of Kudus, they were not mistaken - in Qatar, thisfast and technical left-footed winger gave an assist in thegame vs Portugal, scored a double in the match againstKorea, and earned a penalty in the struggle with Uruguay(perhaps the coaches of the Ghana national team need toorganize a special seminar "How to score penaltiesagainst Uruguay goalkeepers at the World Cups"). In anycase, Kudus left a great impression and we are confidentthat he has a great future ahead of him. By the way, this isthe youngest player on our list - now he is only 22 yearsold.
Bono (Morocco)
Goalkeepers like Yassine Bounou (also known as Bono) are said to have to "miss their own goals". Bono was bornin Canada, returned to Morocco as a child, proved himselfin the local Wydad, attracted the attention of AtléticoMadrid, signed a contract in 2012, and had no chance toplay even a single game for the first team in officialmatches. Bono spent the next five years on loan, delighting the fans of the second Spanish division with hissuccesses, and only five years later he played his firstmatch in Primera – at that time he played in Girona. In thefollowing season, Gerona flew to the Segunda, but for theMoroccan goalkeeper this tragedy was the beginning ofthe ascent to the football heights - he was rented bySevilla.
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In his first season at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, Bonobecame the team's main goalkeeper and won the Europa League. After that, Sevilla bought out his contract anddidn’t regret it: in the Primera, the team finished in fourthplace for three years in a row – this is the Champions League zone. Also, in the 2021/2022 season, Bono wonthe Trofeo Ricardo Zamora - a prize for the bestgoalkeeper of the Spanish championship (for the last 10 years, Jan Oblak, Thibaut Courtois, or Claudio Bravo havereceived this award).
The Moroccan team came to the World Cup in Qatar withexcellent defenders - Achraf Hakimi from PSG, NussairMazraoui from Bayern, Nayef Aguerd from West Ham andRomain Saiss from Wolverhampton need no furtherintroduction. The Atlas Lions’ well-organized and well-thought-out defensive play allowed Bono not to exerthimself too much - if this thesis applies to World Cup matches at all. 1 save in the match with Croatia, 3 againstBelgium, zero vs Canada, 1 against Spain and 3 in thebattle with Portugal - you must admit, these statistics arenot very impressive (if you don’t remember that Belgiumhas the second place in the FIFA ranking of nationalteams, Spain - the seventh, and Portugal - the ninth). Buta great keeper can’t always sit behind the backs of hisdefenders and from time to time must show what is he got. And in the match against Spain, Bono showed it to thewhole world, making three saves in the penalty shootoutand repeating the achievement of the famous Ukrainiangoalkeeper Alexander Shovkovsky at World Cup 2006. As a result, his team became the fourth national team fromAfrica, which made it to the quarterfinals of the World Cup - before Morocco, only Cameroon in 1990, Senegal in2002, and Ghana in 2010 managed to do this.
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Everyone thought that after the quarter-final match againstPortugal, the adventures of Morocco in Qatar would becompleted. However, in the first half, center forwardYousef En-Nassiri managed to jump over the Portuguesegoalkeeper and open the scoring. Well, then Bono againdemonstrated his skills - excellent reaction, confident playon the exits, and calmness (nervous keepers can pleaseonly psychologists who need money) making Morocco thefirst African team that got into the top four national teamsof the planet. By the way, Bono’s game was also noted byFIFA experts - the matches against Spain and Portugalbrought the Moroccan goalkeeper two Man of the Match awards.
Perhaps the experts who help determine the best footballplayer in Africa are also ready to give the right answer.
The 1xBet betting company has carefully prepared for theWorld Cup and offers a wide line and high odds for thefinal game, the top scorer of the championship, and eventhe result of the penalty shootout. Take advantage of allthis in a convenient application where you can watchvideo broadcasts of the most important games. More information about our lines and odds is here:1xBet.
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