{"id":120545,"date":"2019-07-01T16:16:06","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T15:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/?p=120545"},"modified":"2019-07-01T16:16:11","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T15:16:11","slug":"top-10-players-who-are-making-waves-afcon-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/top-10-players-who-are-making-waves-afcon-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 10 Players Who Are Making Waves @ AFCON 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2019 AFCON tournament has already gotten underway and the expectations have begun to build. Expectedly, the big name foreign stars scattered all over Europe and Asia will be lighting up the football showpiece, bringing to the tournament the spectacular performances they posted for their various teams last season. It is always a huge excitement for fans to see their favourite club stars come back home to wear their country\u2019s national colours and give them a spectacular football tournament. In this feature, City People\u2019s Senior Editor,<\/em> WALE LAWAL,<\/strong> presents the top ten players fans expect to see banging in the goals this at AFCON 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MO SALAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nwas Liverpool\u2019s hottest player two seasons ago. And he didn\u2019t do too badly last\nseason either. Mo was so on fire that Liverpool fans expected him to score in\nevery game he played. At the just concluded 2018\/2019 season, Mo Salah netted 22\nPremier League goals for Liverpool, sharing the Golden Boot Award with team\nmate Sadio Mane and Arsenal\u2019s Pierre Aubameyang. He is coming to AFCON 2019 as\nEgypt\u2019s Talisman. The Egyptian is the 2017 and 2018 African Player of the Year.\nHe has scored his first goal of AFCON 2019 when Egypt took on Kenya for their\n2nd match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SADIO MANE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He has been a phenomenon both for club\n(Liverpool) and country (Senegal) He also had an impressive season for\nLiverpool, ending the 2018\/2019 season with 22 Premier League goals. He is yet\nto get off the mark at the current AFCON tournament, but you can be sure that\nit is only a matter of time that Sadio Mane\u2019s name will be on the score sheet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ANDRE AYEW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently\non loan to Marseille from Premiership side, West Ham, Andre Ayew, son of\nGhana\u2019s legendary footballer and former captain of the Black Stars of Ghana,\nAbedi Pele, had a very difficult season last term. He was sent on loan from\nWest Ham after he was unable to find the net after several appearances and\nstill couldn\u2019t get it right at Marseille. But you must never write off Andre.\nHe has already gotten his name on the score sheet at AFCON 2019. He scored his\nfirst goal in Ghana\u2019s clash against Benin Republic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JORDAN AYEW <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like\nhis elder brother, he has also had a tempestuous 2018\/2019 season. He plays for\nPremier League side, Crystal Palace and was only able to manage just a goal for\nthe club. But one thing about Jordan that people admire, it\u2019s his fighting\nspirit, on the pitch, he never gives up, a trait he obviously inherited from\nhis father. This is why it is not a surprise to many that he has already put\nhis name on the score sheet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RIYAD MAHREZ <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He has been a revelation for his Algerian\nnational team. Three seasons ago, Riyad had an excellent season with Leicester\nCity. Alongside Jamie Vardy, he scored some of the best goals of his football\ncareer at Leicester before making a big money move to Premier League champions,\nManchester City. He scored seven goals in his debut season for Man City and\nwill be looking to fire his country to AFCON glory at this year\u2019s tournament.\nHe is yet to score at AFCON 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WILFRIED ZAHA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This very pivotal player for the Ivorien\nnational side has also been a phenomenon for his club side, Crystal Palace. He\nscored ten crucial goals for the club last season and helped them to a decent\nfinish. At the current AFCON tournament, Wilfried is yet to score, but if you\nknow Wilfried then you\u2019ll know he is more than capable of scoring anytime soon.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SAIDO BERAHINO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He is one of Stoke City\u2019s prominent attackers.\nHe is strong and fluid on the ball. He is also Burundi\u2019s biggest football\nexport at the moment. And although he is yet to record a goal for the Burundi\nnational side at the on-going AFCON 2019 tournament, no one can put it past\nBerahino not to make his presence felt on the in the competition. He might find\nthe back of the net any moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ODION IGHALO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nplayed for Changchun Yatai and had a stellar performance for the club. The\nNigeria international scored 21 goals in 28 games for his Chinese club but his\nhuge haul of goals still couldn\u2019t save his club from relegation. But at AFCON\n2019, Ighalo appears to have put all that behind him as he scored a sublime\ngoal for the Super Eagles of Nigeria in their extremely tough encounter with\nBurundi in their first game of the AFCON 2019 tournament. Odion has continued\nto defy all odds, proving time and time again that he remains Nigeria\u2019s most\nprolific striker at the moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AHMED MUSA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 This fast and pacy forward had an outstanding\nseason with Al Nassr, scoring 9 goals in 21 club matches. But it wasn\u2019t just\nhis goals that made him a fans delight at the club, his dazzling runs on the\nflanks, impressive work rate and assists were also some of his features that\nstood him out from the rest of the pack. At the current AFCON tournament, Ahmed\nis yet to register his name on the score sheet but he has started to make impact.\nAsk the South Africans, and they will tell you how they\u2019re still hurting from\nhis two well taken superb goals against them during the 2nd leg of the Nations\nCup qualifiers.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HAKIM ZIYECH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also had a great season with Ajax, the underdogs at European Champions League who turned out to be giant killers, eliminating Juventus and Real Madrid from the championship. Hakim is already at the AFCON 2019 tournament with his country\u2019s national team, Morocco. And although the 26-year-old has not found the back of the net yet, he has worked his socks off for his team. His contributions have been impressive and he is confident that, surely, the goals will come.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO: THANK GOD, I DIDN\u2019T STOP MY SON FROM DOING MUSIC \u2013 HIP HOP STAR, MAYORKUN\u2019S MUM, TOYIN ADEWALE<\/a><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2019 AFCON tournament has already gotten underway and the expectations have begun to build. Expectedly, the big name foreign stars scattered all over Europe and Asia will be lighting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":120549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[8013,17667],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Top-10-Players-AFCON-2019.jpg?fit=1226%2C1026&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28499,"url":"https:\/\/www.citypeopleonline.com\/afcon-set-wear-new-look-get-new-date-committee\/","url_meta":{"origin":120545,"position":0},"title":"AFCON Set To Wear New Look, Get New Date \u2013 Committee","author":"Damilare Salami","date":"July 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The African Nations Cup AFCON finals tournament is set to be expanded to 24 teams and moved to dates in June and July but will continue to be held every two years after recommendations on the tournament at a symposium in Morocco on Wednesday. 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