In its 60 year history, the African Cup of Nations has seen the rise and fall of some of football’s greatest teams and individuals – some of whom became household names due to this very tournament.
Differing from the African Nations Championship which only allows players from nations’ domestic leagues to participate, the Cup of Nations has been a showcase for Africa’s best to shine and be seen on the international stage.
Here we take a look at five individuals who have made this tournament their own, in their own ways.
#5 Christian Atsu – Ghana
The Black Stars midfielder has been enjoying his season with Newcastle thus far, replicating his stunning form from two years ago that almost saw his national team win their first Cup of Nations in over three decades.
Along with Andre Ayew, Atsu formed the backbone of the side that made it as far as the final of the tournament before a heartbreaking 9-8 loss on penalties to Ivory Coast cost them the title.
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Although Ayew would finish joint top-scorer of the tournament with 3 goals, it was one of two strikes from Atsu in the quarter-finals against Guinea that would be named the goal of the tournament.
#4 Christopher Katongo – Zambia
In 2012, 18 years after a Zambian side that mourned the loss of their national team in a plane crash, finished runners-up in the Cup of Nations, Christopher Katongo would lead them to triumph and salvation. It was apparent that something special was on the cards when they scored an upset victory over Senegal in the group stages, with Katongo registering an assist, and they ended up on top of the group.
Katongo would go on to score against Sudan in the quarter-finals as well as convert the first penalty in the shoot-out for the title against Ivory Coast which his team won 8-7. Zambia’s first AFCON title, and the player of the tournament and joint top-scorer awards for Katongo – shared with the likes of Didier Drogba and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang marked a sensational tournament for the country.
#3 Ahmed Hassan – Egypt
Perhaps Egypt’s greatest footballer ever, and certainly in recent memory, Hassan participated in a record 8 AFCON tournaments. His performances grew better with time, and of his 4 Cup of Nations triumphs with Egypt, 3 came in a row from 2006–10, under his captaincy.
Although he was named the player of the tournament in both 2006 and 2010, his performances in the former probably slightly edge those in the latter, with a tally of 4 goals being the second highest in that year’s competition.
Hassan would score a brace in the quarter-finals, one in the semi-finals and also convert the first penalty in their 4-3 shoot-out victory against Ivory Coast in the final.
#2 Rashidi Yekini – Nigeria
Standing at 6’3” and blessed with plenty of pace and muscle, Rashidi Yekini’s prolific goalscoring was the stuff of managers’ dreams. Always mentioned among Nigeria’s all-time greats, his best performance in the Cup of Nations came in 1994 where he was the top scorer with 5 goals and also named the best player of the tournament for leading his side to the title.
His performance in the 1992 Cup of Nations wasn’t too bad either. Yekini finished as the top scorer, however, his nation, unfortunately, had to settle for a 3rd place finish after being knocked out by Abedi Pele’s Ghana in the semi-finals.
He was also named Africa’s footballer of the year, in 1993, and the runner-up in 1994, adding a layer of shine to his well-established achievements.
#1) Samuel Eto’o – Cameroon
Well renowned from his playing days at Barcelona, Inter Milan and Chelsea among others, Samuel Eto’o is the AFCON’s all-time top scorer with 18 goals to his name. While he only won the tournament in 2000 and 2002, his best performances were perhaps in the 2006 and 2008 competitions where he scored 5 goals each – in spite of crashing out in the quarter-finals at the former.
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Cameroon finished runners-up in 2008, with all of Eto’o’s goals coming in the group stage.
Still, two winner’s medals and a record haul of goals are enough to put Samuel Eto’o on anyone’s list of best individual performers in the competition.
