Would a team of players not at the Africa Cup of Nations win the whole tournament?<\/p>\n Goalkeeper: Sylvain Gbohouo<\/b><\/p>\n A Nations Cup champion in 2015, was set to feature this time around only for a Fifa ban for taking a prohibited substance to prevent him from participating.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bitter blow for the veteran goalkeeper and creates a major headache for the Ivory Coast between the sticks.<\/p>\n Defender: Joel Matip<\/b><\/p>\n One of the finest African defenders in the world, but Matip passed up on the opportunity to represent Cameroon on home soil as he continues his self-imposed international exile.<\/p>\n How the Indomitable Lions would love to be able to call on the classy Premier League-winning center-back as they look to secure the big one.<\/p>\n Defender: Noussair Mazraoui<\/b><\/p>\n The fact that Barcelona are currently being heavily linked with the Ajax defender\u2014who has played in a Champions League semi-final\u2014is testament to the high regard which he\u2019s held within European footballing circles.<\/p>\n This hasn\u2019t mattered to Morocco coach Vahid Halilhodzic, who has blacklisted the utility man after accusing him of faking an injury.<\/p>\n Leeds United are also understood to be monitoring the Morocco star.<\/p>\n Defender: Chancel Mbemba<\/b><\/p>\n Excellent for FC Porto during their run to the Champions League quarter-finals last term, Mbemba has won domestic titles in both Portugal and Belgium during a fine career in the European game.<\/p>\n He was also an Afcon bronze medallist at the 2015 tournament\u2014when still a youngster\u2014and now in his prime, will rue missing out on a competition that holds such unforgettable memories.<\/p>\n Winger: Emmanuel Dennis<\/b><\/p>\n While one Watford Wideman\u2014Ismaila Sarr\u2014does make the tournament, against Watford\u2019s wishes, Dennis does not travel and remains at Vicarage Road.<\/p>\n Various reasons have been given for the attacker\u2019s non-participation in the tournament, with a lot of finger-pointing, and there\u2019s no doubt that Dennis would have been a major asset for the Super Eagles.<\/p>\n Indeed, given Nigeria\u2019s many attacking absences, Dennis should have stepped into a key role at the Nations Cup.<\/p>\n Midfielder: Hakim Ziyech<\/b><\/p>\n The Chelsea playmaker hasn\u2019t featured for Morocco in recent months after falling out with head coach Halilhodzic amidst disciplinary infringements.<\/p>\n The Atlas Lions haven\u2019t been doing too badly without him, but they might regret leaving one of the continent\u2019s most creative stars on the bench come the knockout stages.<\/p>\n Midfield: Enock Mwepu<\/b><\/p>\n Zambia\u2019s failure to qualify has denied Mwepu the chance to feature in the Nations Cup, with the midfielder having impressed during his 20 international outings to date.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old is in the midst of an encouraging maiden Premier League season, however, and missing out on the Afcon means he can help Brighton & Hove Albion\u2019s European push in the Prem.<\/p>\n Winger: Silas<\/b><\/p>\n One of the breakout stars of the Bundesliga last term, Silas looked utterly comfortable in the German top flight and ended the year with 11 top-flight goals.<\/p>\n 2021 was overshadowed by an injury and revelations about his true identity, although the Democratic Republic of Congo\u2019s failure to qualify has put paid to any hopes he had of making his mark in neighboring Cameroon.<\/p>\n Striker: Victor Osimhen<\/b><\/p>\n A potential Golden Boot winner, Osimhen had battled back from a devastating facial injury to announce himself fit for the tournament, only for Covid to intervene.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bitter blow for the player\u2014the top scorer in qualifying\u2014and hampers Nigeria\u2019s chances of winning the continental crown.<\/p>\n Striker: Patson Daka<\/b><\/p>\n The joint top scorer alongside Osimhen, Daka\u2019s five goals weren\u2019t enough to send Zambia to the Nations Cup.<\/p>\n The Chipolopolo\u2014champions in 2012\u2014are one of the highest-profile absentees, although who knows, there could be a late, late reprieve if Zimbabwe receive a ban from Fifa due to government interference.<\/p>\n Brendan Rodgers and LeicesterCity fans will be desperate for Zim to remain in contention for the tournament in Cameroon!<\/p>\n Striker: Paul Onauchu<\/b><\/p>\n Another Nigeria striker to miss out\u2014Odion Ighalo could have also made this dream team\u2014Onuachu could have been a valuable Plan B for the Super Eagles off the bench.<\/p>\n He demonstrated his impact during qualification for the tournament\u2014remember that later winner against Benin\u2014but injury has prevented him from featuring.<\/p>\n With Osimhen and Ighalo both absent, Onuachu might have even fancied his chances of starting for the West African giants.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen Would a team of players not at the Africa Cup of Nations win the whole tournament? Goalkeeper: Sylvain Gbohouo A Nations Cup champion in 2015, was set to feature this time around only for a Fifa ban for taking a prohibited substance to prevent him from participating. It\u2019s a bitter blow […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":739567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Napoli](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/92164946.295.jpg\" "\\"Napoli")
Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n