{"id":3169,"date":"2022-02-03T16:05:45","date_gmt":"2022-02-03T16:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/?p=3169"},"modified":"2022-02-14T11:41:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T11:41:07","slug":"afcon-own-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/2022\/02\/03\/afcon-own-goal\/","title":{"rendered":"AFCON Own Goal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Four of the Congolese AFCON winners and me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Satish Sekar in Yaound\u00e9 \u00a9 Satish Sekar (February 2nd<\/sup> 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viva Congo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first visit to Cameroon was for the African Nations Championship (CHAN). Among the legends attending it were four members of Congo\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team. I had made it clear that I wanted to meet and interview them. It did not happen until I ditched the \u2018help\u2019 I was given and arranged it myself \u2013 my programme did not matter as much as the contents of my bank account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been a few African players named after Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pel\u00e9). I know of only one nicknamed after another Brasilian great Eduardo Gon\u00e7alves de Andrade (Tost\u00e3o). I got to meet and interview the African Tost\u00e3o, Jonas Bahamboula last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The last time Cameroon hosted AFCON fifty years ago, it produced the unlikeliest winners ever, Congo, formerly Congo-Brazzaville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it could have been very different. Morocco, led by Ahmed Faras had the same record \u2013 points and goal difference \u2013 as Congo. Although Congo had scored more, it did not matter. The toss of a coin sent Morocco home and Congo towards history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They won it on merit, beating hosts Cameroon in the semi-final 1-0. No\u00ebl Minga-Tchibinda \u2013 the only Congolese player to be named in their top ten by France Football Magazine in their African Ballon D\u2019Or for 1972 \u2013 scored the goal that broke Cameroon\u2019s hearts. The Indomitable Lions took out their frustrations on Zaire, beating the Leopards 5-2. But for Cameroonians, it did not matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Failing to host and win meant that Cameron did not embrace the class of 1972 until new FECAFOOT President Samuel Eto\u2019o Fils invited then to tonight\u2019s semi-final, which included great Cameroonian players like Paul Nlend and L\u00e9a Eyoum Charles \u2013 the latter winning the Ballon de Bronze for 1971. But Congo were the deserved talk of the 1972 AFCON.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Grave Error<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Devils (Congo) beat Mali 3-2 in the final to seize the least expected AFCON trophy ever. Despite journalists who voted for the African Player of the Year (APotY) Award for 1972 attending the AFCON only Minga-Tchibinda was included in the top ten. This is an inexplicable slight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean-Michel M\u2019Bono was not in the Team of the Tournament \u2013 an incredible omission as he was the second top scorer with four goals (two braces, including one in the final) and setting up the championship winning goal for the Player of the Tournament, Fran\u00e7ois M\u2019Pel\u00e9. Both M\u2019Bono and M\u2019Pel\u00e9 were conspicuous by their absence from the African Ballon D\u2019Or top ten for 1972. Other notable absentees were AFCON1972\u2019s top scorer, Cheikh Fantamady Ke\u00efta (5) and the Zambian Goal King, Godfrey Chitalu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compounding the Error<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year I was in Cameroon for the CHAN. I met and interviewed four members of the Red Devils\u2019 AFCON triumph. They included Africa\u2019s Tost\u00e3o, Augustin Ndouli and Gabriel Dengaki. The interview will be published shortly, along with photos of the AFCON champions. They were invited to Cameroon for the CHAN, 49 years after their sensational victory in Cameroon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, despite others from that era rightly being here \u2013 African Ballon D\u2019Or winner for 1972, Guinea\u2019s Ch\u00e9rif Souleymane \u2013 for example, there were notable omissions from that tournament. By his exceptional standards, the first African Ballon D\u2019Or winner, Salif Ke\u00efta had an ordinary tournament, but Cheikh Fantamady Ke\u00efta was the top scorer at Cameroon\u2019s AFCON. Both are conspicuous by their absence too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On March 5th<\/sup> \u2013 the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of their remarkable triumph, the 1972 Red Devils\u2019 achievement will be celebrated in Brazzaville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be a great pity if they were not part of Cameroon\u2019s second AFCON.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Satish Sekar in Yaound\u00e9 \u00a9 Satish Sekar (February 2nd 2022) Viva Congo My first visit to Cameroon was for the African Nations Championship (CHAN). Among [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[135,155,163,159,134,154,151,161,160,25,153,164,162,152],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3184,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169\/revisions\/3184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowersmag.com\/empowersmagwp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}