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O.K. Piers a question.
Who was the first African superstar ?

No one from Zambia even though they eventually won? Didn't see much of ACN so I'm guess there is a reason e.g. they were older players or they played as a team rather than having a stand out.

Are there any Zambian players who you think could make it at a top level club?

Another player I thought stood out was Burkina Faso's Jonathan Pitroipa. He's 25 and is playing for Rennes but should be at a much bigger club. He plays in a similar style to Sunderland's Stephane Sessegnon running from midfield and linking play intelligently.

2. At 19:19 20th Feb 2012, RedDevilHornetTommy wrote:
No one from Zambia even though they eventually won? Didn't see much of ACN so I'm guess there is a reason e.g. they were older players or they played as a team rather than having a stand out.

Are there any Zambian players who you think could make it at a top level club?

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Emmanuel Mayuka is Zambian, the top scorer in the tournament and the first player on this list!

@2. Emmanuel Mayuka and Rainford Kalaba are both Zambians

Did you take notice of Ghana's best defender by a mile John Boye? I think he was exceptional in all the matches he played in except for a momentary lapse that allowed Mayuka enough space to pick his spot in the match against Ghana.

Zambia were without their one of their main goal scorers for the ACN triumph, Jacob Mulenga, who plays for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands but is currently recovering from a 2nd ACL injury. If he comes back healthy (a big if) then he is a strong English style No. 9 - although 27 he would be a good player for a top championship side or a long ball style premier league team.

Really good article. I was also very impressed by Stophila Sunzu of Zambia. He was very solid at the back and showed lots of natural ability. Had a bit that Vidic air about him. The absence of Egypt and the other "traditional" power houses will go a long way in improving the tournament as it highlights no one team has the birthright to be there or win it.

Good blog, but the subheading for each player should include the national team they play for as well as the club team.

Would avoid confusion such as @2 (as would actually reading the article properly).

I can understand why the article concentrates on attack minded players, however I have to agree with no. 8. Stopila Sunzu was the player of the tournament for me. He was immense in every sense, and very fitting that he scored the winning penalty. Would love or see him at Southampton F.C.

Did anybody notice a total first in my 50 years of playing and watching football: the Zambian players singing through the whole shootout... not only the bench guys, and the huddle in midfield, but also the shooters!!! Has anyone seen anything like it?

I thought loads of the Zambians stood out considering all of them apart from Mayuka play in China or Africa. Chansa and the two Katongo brothers were very good players. Also the CB, he played in the final and had a blinder. He scored the winning penalty too (May be Sunzu, cant remember)

11-The singing obviously helped to overcome nerves and bonded the team together but couldn't singing be classed as ungentlemanly conduct?

"was attracting the attention of top European sides - Newcastle United and Fulham figuring prominently among them"

Lol. Watch out Barca!

I would include the 21yr old Zambian, Nathan Sinkala who made Yaya toure and Tioti a shodow of themselves. what a talent the boy played all the games and looked solid in attack and defensive...

I couldn't agree more with #15! As a Zambian, I would say our real find and revelation at the AfCoN 2012 was young Nathan Sinkala. Kalaba may be baby-faced but he's already a veteran of 3 AfCoNs now, while Mayuka's just come of age on his second outing. As for young Sinkala, he's just a 'baby'! I'm talking about a player who never played a single minute in the qualifying matches and only made his senior team debut in November or December of last year! Yet at the tournament, the young man gave good account of himself by playing every single minute of the Chipolopolo's campaign! He was so confortable in the middle of the park that you woudn't think he was just a debutant. He made Yaya and Zokora look ordinary they had to be hauled off to spare them further embarassment! He displayed great vision, a couple of defence splitting passes and was willing to have pop at goal. He struck Zambia's first shot at goal against the Ivory Coast in the 2nd minute! And when it came to the crunch, the boy struck the sweetest, fierciest penalty I've ever seen (I've been following football for more than 20 years)! To date, that shot still sends shivers down my spine! It was as ferocious as it was sweet! I blinked and missed seeing it cross the line! For once I thought he had missed it, until I saw the net bulge! On replay, Ivorian keeper Barry just shook his head in despair as he watched the ball nestle in the top corner. This boy is a talent that won't take much to nurture into a quality midfielder! He'll looks by far the best central midfield player Zambia has produced since Charly Musonda!

I agree about mayuka; the goal he scored against Ghana confirmed an amazin eye for the goal.

yeah sinkala is a talent,considering he was not allowed to be bullied by so called big players.wonder wats next for him?

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

i liked the look of the zambian keeper Mweene i thought he had a good tournament only conseeding 3 goals two of which were in dreadful conditions against libya. i also liked Christopher Katongo i thought he had a great tournament same as Chamanga .i thought Boubacar Barry needs a mention for going the entire tournament without conseding a goal with some great saves including the one in the sudan game.manucho ,randy and Juvenal had good tournaments however mayuka was easy the best player in the tournament

On this evidence I assume that the goalkeeping/defending at the African Nations Cup was abysmal?

I would add Stophira Sunzu(22), the Zambian Centre Back. He was my player of the tournament, was solid at the back, keeping Gyan, Ayew, Drogba, Demba Ba quiet, scoring a goal against Sudan in the quarters and holding his nerve to score the winning penalty in the finals.

Stophira Sunzu certainly deserves to play his trade in a top european league. But I must agree with number 16, Nathan Sinkala was just revelational at age 19! He played every minute of every game plus scored a brilliant goal in the final. Thats why Herve Renard is a great coach. He has an eye for talent and doesnt play names. He intrusts confidence in 'little' players and brings out their untapped talent. And to think Nathan Sinkala only made his debut in november, 2011. Amazing!! The boy was tough tackling, stable on the ball, had an eagles eye when passing and only went forward when necessary. World class football. I really miss the AFCON! That was stuff of dreams.....

Scored a wonderful penalty in the final**** [my bad]

I think Nathan Sinkala will be the best player Zambia has ever prduced if he contnes to play like he did. And he will end up being Zambia captain...Mayuka is good and so is Chisamba Lugu and Sunzu...I also liked the young Ayew Jordan,the boy id calss!!

I feel Piers has hit the nail on the head by adding Rainford Kalaba to the list despite his age . Although a lot of pundits said Zambia won the tournament because they played as a team but personally deep down as a Zambian I feel Zambia could not have won this tounament without the brilliance ,skill on the ball and vision of K Kalaba .The boy had 3 assists ( including katongos penalty) and one goal out Zambia`s nine goals .Thats how good the boy was that every time Zambia threatened to score he was involved in one way or another .I feel he has the capabilty of getting into a side like arsenal and feeling nasri`s boots easy. Forgive me am now ranting as an arsenal fan .But seriously speaking any team that will buy Kalaba in Europe will not regret it.

Any list with no Ivorians or Ghanaians on it is a fake list. Most of these players would not sit on the Bench of both of those countries.

I think you are taking the African cup too seriously. The African cup is tournament of poor officiating which unnecessarily favors players in Africa by giving them over 1 month of extra preparation time. Notice how most of the recent winners have a good number of their players in Africa. The world cup qualifications on the other hand is a different beast and the best team always qualifies because everyone has the same preparation time. Algeria vs. Egypt 2 years ago demonstrates this. With the same amount of preparation time Algeria was able to beat Egypt when it counted but, in the African cup when Egypt had all that extra preparation time they beat Algeria 4-0!

Until the playing field is even no serious minded person will take the tournament too seriously as an indication of anything.

There is a lot of talent in Zambia and Southern Africa in general, but players from this region find it hard to break into major European leagues as compared to West Africans. West African players easily go though France are easily in other European countries and are spotted by major Clubs. Otherwise the world witnesses how the likes of Demba Ba, Gyan, Didier, tolo brother to mention but a few were out classifed at AFCON 2012 by the Zambian team

For me, Nathan Sinkala was the player! Not only for Zambia but the whole tournament. Only 21, he made Yaya Toure to be substuted. I am surprised ´óÏó´«Ã½ did not mention this boy. The boy is very close to Charles Musonda in terms of skill and football intelligence.And the future Zambia National Team will be built around this boy, including the likes of Emmanuel Mayuka, Chisamba Lungu, Stoppila Sunzu.
Talking about West African palyers in Europe, most of these chaps are overrated--- players like Gyan, Demba Ba, Cisse, Song etc are nowhere close to, Chris Katongo, Mayuka, Nathan Sinkala or Rainford Kalaba. What makes these Weest African players easily break European football markets is the perception created in Europe that West African are good. For examle, we coaches like Arsene Wenger who can only sign African players fron French speaking countries. And the result of such a perception is what Arsenal is gpng through.

Zambian players are not good. Most scouts have watched them and none will try to sign them to Europe because they don't have the talent. It is easy to look good with a lot of preparation but, put them agaist any serious team without the extra preparation and they will be lit up and humiliated. A team like Senegal is superior regardless of their results at the African cup. Take a team like Senegal to the World cup and they would do well because their players are good.

Look at Egypt they won 3 straight times but, when put in conditions when the playing field was even they were dead last in their group in the confederations cup. The African cup favors home based players but, those players are not good and not european class. If you don't believe me just watch none of the so called Zambian players will be signed by any credible European team. The scouts know a good player when they see one. They saw these same players at the Club World cup and made no effort to sign them for a reason then!

Hi Jacob Chanda, you also noticed that, right?! Nathan Sinkala`s penalty -----even the EuroSport commentator said the level of confidence in the boy was amazing! What a boy!!!!!!!! As Denis Liwewe would say!

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