AFCON 2021: Kamaldeen, Hannibal and the young talents looking to impress

We may be only a week into 2022, but the first major international football tournament of the year is on the horizon, the Africa Cup of Nations starting on Sunday.

It has also been a long time coming - it was initially scheduled to take place in June and July 2021, but was pushed to January 2021 due to weather concerns. After this it had to be pushed back by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, fans and teams have had to put up with the general stance of some clubs regarding the inconvenience of dropping players in the middle of the season, but despite this there remains a healthy selection of big names.

In fact, judging by standards such as Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez and Achraf Hakimi, some might even argue that it is one of the highest-quality groups of players to be featured in a single AFCON.

But the beauty of every international tournament is that there is more to them than just the big names - there are plenty of promising young players to impress to global audiences.

Kamaldeen Suleiman, 19, winger - Ghana

Hold on to your seats! Kamaladin is sure to stir up the excitement at AFCON, so is his chaotic approach to attacking - and acrobatic festivities. The teenage winger is extremely tough and nimble, with his 246 take-on attempts in the 2020-21 Danish Superliga, almost twice as many as anyone else - to put it in context, only Lionel Messi has scored more (261) in the top five leagues. did management. , Following his move to Rennes he has moved into Ligue 1, with the average participation of one shot from a ball every 43 minutes being the second best in Ligue 1 (minutes 900 minutes played) behind Kylian Mbappe - this is clearly a lot. It's good.

Ibrahim Sangare, 24, defensive midfielder - Ivory Coast

While a good show at AFCON alone may not be enough for players to convince the big clubs that they deserve a punt, showing promise can get some more eyes on them. Sangare is definitely one of those people who could have put himself 'in the shop window'. The PSV midfielder has a lot to say about him, especially when it comes to defence. In this season's Eredivisie, only three players (less than 500 minutes played) have averaged 3.4 tackles per 90 minutes, while he was in fifth and mid-third recoveries (5.7) for interception frequency (2.5). for the third place. He is also technically proficient and happy with the ball, with only three players attempting more passes (81.1) than him on a per-90-minute basis.

Hannibal Mazbury, 18, attacking midfielder - Tunisia

A former youth international from France, Mejbury may have announced a move to Tunisia in 2021, but it will already be his second international tournament. The Manchester United midfielder started all six games for Tunisia as they reached the final of the Arab Cup in December, eventually losing to Algeria in the final. Hannibal may not appear as prominently in the full-strength squad, but the midfielder has the kind of off-the-cuff abilities that make him endearing to fans - if not opponents. He is a natural talent to be targeted for fouls when playing for another United team.

Ilex Moriba, 18, central midfielder - Guinea

2021-22 didn't quite go as Moriba might have imagined it would. He left Barcelona after failing to agree a new contract, despite a breakdown in the first-team setup at the Camp Nou. The midfielder in particular showed exceptional promise on the ball – he averaged 3.2 dribbles per 90 minutes, bettered only four teammates overall, and claimed a success rate of 89.3 percent, with only Miralem Pajnik bettering him. Make. The €16million signing has played just twice in the Bundesliga since his move to Leipzig and will certainly enjoy some competitive action.

Edmund Tapsoba, 22, center-back - Burkina Faso

If Burkina Faso's tournament goes well, Tapasoba will almost certainly have something to do with it. The centre-back is an extremely handsome player for someone who is roughly the size of a small building and whose name sounds like a hipster bar, and at club level he does a vital job in getting Leverkusen on the front foot, In which he has 13.5 progressive balls. The term is second only to Alfonso Davies in the Bundesliga. If he can translate this on the international stage, Burkina Faso will have a real weapon in the middle – even if he doesn't, he'll still give them aerial threats on a set-piece.

Abdul Fatwu Issaku, 17, forward - Ghana

Issaku's case is a complicated one. Transfer rumors in 2021 suggested that Liverpool had signed him for £1.5m, but this soon turned out to be false. He lives in his native Ghana, but the exciting attacker has done enough to earn a shot at the international level despite being just 17 years old – he is the second youngest player in the tournament. But he is used to this kind of situation. After all, in March, even before he turned 17, he was named Player of the Tournament in the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations. While Liverpool's move never materialised, it has given itself another chance to shine.