5 forwards to comply with on the Africa Cup of Nations

The 2024 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast begins on Saturday and runs till February 11. Among the greatest names in world soccer will function on the match, and AFP Sport picks out 5 goal-scorers to comply with:

The 31-year-old Liverpool ahead is a celebrity of the English Premier League and a sporting icon throughout the Arab world. He’s the joint prime scorer within the Premier League this season with 14 objectives, serving to take Liverpool to the highest of the desk. The hazard for Jurgen Klopp’s crew is that their title problem might be blown off target as they might lose Salah for 4 league video games if he goes all the way in which on the Afcon with Egypt.

That although is the purpose for Salah, who made his worldwide debut in 2011, a yr after Egypt gained the final of their report seven Cup of Nations crowns. He performed within the groups that misplaced the Afcon finals in 2017, to Cameroon, and in 2022 to Senegal, and shall be hoping this yr to take the additional step.

“I’m so blissful to play on this fantastic African soccer match and my teammates and I are determined to succeed,” Salah, who has scored twice at every of his three earlier Afcon tournaments, stated not too long ago.

Osimhen leads Nigeria into the Afcon recent from being named the African participant of the yr off the again of his good type in Napoli’s run to the Serie A title.

He scored 26 objectives for Napoli final season however has struggled as compared on this marketing campaign, netting solely eight instances. Nevertheless, he has simply signed a brand new contract at his membership and shall be desperate to make up for misplaced time on the Cup of Nations.

Osimhen hardly featured as Nigeria completed third on the 2019 match and sat out the final version two years in the past because of a mixture of a facial damage and an premature bout of Covid.

Nevertheless, there shall be no Victor Boniface to take a few of the attacking burden off Osimhen after the Bayer Leverkusen striker withdrew injured this week.

Mane was the hero as Senegal shook off years of underachievement to win the Cup of Nations for the primary time in 2022, scoring the successful penalty within the shoot-out in opposition to Egypt in Yaounde.

The 2-time former African footballer of the yr was the runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 2022 however there may be issues his profession has gone backwards to some extent since then. 

Damage dominated him out of the World Cup in Qatar, and he then left Bayern Munich after only one season to affix Al Nassr within the Saudi Professional League. Does that imply that, now aged 31, he might need misplaced a few of his edge since leaving Europe? Senegal followers will hope not. He’s nonetheless averaging nearly a aim each second recreation for his membership, the place he performs alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, and is essential to his nation’s possibilities of retaining their continental crown.

Guinea are ranked solely fifteenth in Africa, have made little affect on the latter levels of latest Afcon tournaments, and face a battle simply to get out of a bunch containing Senegal, Cameroon and Gambia. But they do boast a participant who has been a sensation within the German Bundesliga this season in Guirassy, the 27-year-old French-born striker.

The previous France Below-20 worldwide had averaged a really respectable 10 league objectives a season over the past three years at Rennes after which VfB Stuttgart however his type with the latter on this marketing campaign has been exceptional.

Guirassy has 19 objectives in 16 video games in all competitions for his membership, together with two hat-tricks, to assist Stuttgart as much as third within the desk. Solely Harry Kane of Bayern Munich has scored extra Bundesliga objectives. Now it stays to be seen if he can switch his membership type to the worldwide stage, the place his report to date with Guinea is modest. 

Morocco are one of many huge favourites off the again of their run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup, the all time efficiency by an African nation. Their star participant is a full-back, Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint-Germain, however they want a striker to ship the products too and that’s the place En-Nesyri is available in.

The 26-year-old Sevilla centre-forward has 9 objectives for his struggling membership this season and was a hero for the Atlas Lions on the World Cup in Qatar, netting two objectives together with the winner in opposition to Portugal within the quarter-finals. He warmed up for the Afcon by bagging a brace in a pleasant in opposition to Sierra Leone this week, which augurs effectively for the match.