Africans In The UEFA Champions League
|
The tie of the opening round of group matches in the UEFA Champions League is undoubtedly Inter Milan’s hosting of Barcelona on Wednesday, and there will be a heavy African influence on the game to boot.
There are so many sideshows to the main event. Inter coach Jose Mourinho was once on the payroll of Barcelona, the close-season swap deal involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto’o, and the fact that these are two of the pre-tournament favourites just adds spice to the fixture.
Barca are likely to play both their African midfielders, Cote d'Ivoire international Yaya Touré and Mali star Seydou Keita, while on the Inter side, Eto’o will be desperate to prove those within the Spanish club wrong when they said he was passed his best.
As well as Eto’o, Ghanaian international midfielder Sulley Muntari will be a key figure for Mourinho’s side, who have flattered to deceive in this competition in recent seasons, despite their dominance of Serie A.
Another Mali midfielder, Momo Sissoko, has not recovered from injury in time to feature for Juventus against Bordeaux, who have a Malian of their own in the form of midfielder Abdou Traoré. South African left-back Tsepo Masilela will make his group stages bow with Israeli club Maccabi Haifa when they host German giants Bayern Munich.Nigerian striker Obafemi Martins has made a good start to his career with Bundesliga side Wolfsburg and he will be looking to continue that as they host Russian club CSKA Moscow. Also in the Wolfsburg side is Algerian Karim Ziani. CSKA will feature Niger striker Ouwo Moussa Maazou, as well as Nigerian defender Chidi Odiah.
Swiss side FC Zurich face the unenviable task of tackling Spanish giants Real Madrid, who have started the season in red-hot form. Zurich have Nigerian forward Tico in their ranks, while Real will feature Mali midfielder Mahamadou Diarra.
Marseille, who host struggling AC Milan, have a plethora of African talent from which to chose from, including Nigerian left-back Taye Taiwo, the Senegal trio of defenders Souleymane Diawara and Pape M'Bow, as well as striker Mamadou Niang (who captains the side).
|
Chelsea host FC Porto in a battle between two teams who have been managed by Mourinho, with the English Premiership club relying heavily on their African talent, namely Michael Essien (Ghana), John Obi Mikel (Nigeria), Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou (both Cote d’Ivoire).
Liverpool may give a run to Moroccan youngster Nabil El Zhar as they host Hungarian side Debrecen, while Cameroon star Jean Makoun will be a key man for Olympique Lyon when they entertain Italian side Fiorentina.
South African midfielder Macbeth Sibaya will be suspended when his Russian side Rubin Kazan travel to Dynamo Kiev in the Ukraine, who have Pape Diakhate (Senegal), Ayila Yussuf (Nigeria) and Badr El Kaddouri (Morocco) on their books.
Sevilla and their African contingent containing the Cote d’Ivoire trio of Dider Zokora, Arouna Kone and Koffi Ndri Romaric, as well as leading hitman Frederic Kanoute from Mali, will host Romanian side Unirea Urziceni, who have Guinea-Bissau international Bruno Fernandes on their books.
Cote d’Ivoire international Arthur Boka should feature for his German side Stuttgart when they host Scottish champions Galsgow Rangers, for whom Algerian midfielder Madjid Bougherra plays.
Moroccan international Jaouad Zairi should play for Greek side Olympiakos as they entertain Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, who have Zairi’s compatriot Mounir El Hamdaoui in their ranks.
Finally, Belgian side Standard Liege have Dieudonne Mbokani (DR Congo), Mohamed Sarr (Senegal) and the Cote d’Ivoire duo of Moussa Traore and Gohi Bi Cyriac. They are at home to Arsenal, who will feature another Ivorian in Emmanuel Eboue and Alexandre Song of Cameroon.
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Nigeria
South Africa
