Who will succeed Algeria, titled in Egypt in the summer of 2019? The African Cup of Nations is back in the middle of winter on Sunday January 9, a first since the 2017 edition. It has been almost five years since the African competition has shaken up the calendar of European football, which will have to do during a month (until February 6) without its best African players.
The options will be fewer for many clubs, especially in Ligue 1 since nearly 56 players will be missing. These absences are likely to weigh heavily in the balance in the middle of the season and at a time when the upsurge of the Covid-19 epidemic is already making life difficult for French football players. Four days of the championship and the knockout stages of the Coupe de France will be played out at the same time as the cream of African football will face off in Cameroon.
For a club like FC Metz, 18th and current relegation, CAN does not necessarily come at the right time. The Lorraine team will be the most affected team in L1 since it will be deprived of seven players: Alexandre Oukidja (Algeria), Kiki Kouyaté (Mali), Dylan Bronn (Tunisia), Sofiane Alakouch (Morocco), Habib Maïga (Côte d’Ivoire), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal) and Farid Boulaya (Algeria). Between them, they represent 41% of their team’s playing time and 30% of the goals they have scored this season (7/23).
Another club which plays its survival in the elite will have to bounce back without some of its most important players: AS Saint-Etienne. The Greens, who have just welcomed Pascal Dupraz on their bench, will not have Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia), Denis Bouanga (Gabon), Saidou Sow (Guinea), Yvan Neyou (Cameroon) and Harold Moukoudi (Cameroon). The top three alone account for 71% of Stéphane’s goals in L1 this season (12/17).
17 of the 20 teams in the French championship will have at least one absence to regret in the coming weeks. Even Paris Saint-Germain will have to find solutions. It will be necessary to do without Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Abdou Diallo (Senegal) and Idrissa Gueye (Senegal). But not everyone will be as affected as Metz or Saint-Etienne.
For Lille and Lorient, life will continue as if nothing had happened since no one will participate in the CAN. Not even Terem Moffi, since the Hake striker was not selected by Nigeria despite a pre-selection. For Monaco, it’s just like because the only Pelé (Guinea-Bissau) will be missed, he who has not played a single minute this season with ASM.
The club-by-club list of players selected for CAN 2022 :
Angers : Sofiane Boufal (Morocco), Stéphane Bahoken (Cameroon), Azzedine Ounahi (Algeria), Enzo Ebosse (Cameroon).
Bordeaux : Jean Onana (Bordeaux), Gideon Mensah (Ghana).
Brest : Haris Belkebla (Algeria).
Clermont : Mohamed Bayo (Guinea), Jim Allevinah (Gabon), Salis Abdul Samed (Ghana), Saif-Eddine Khaoui (Tunisia).
Lens : Ignatius Ganago (Cameroon), Massadio Haïdara (Mali).
Lyon : Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon), Islam Slimani (Algeria), Tino Kadewere (Zimbabwe).
Marseilles : Bamba Dieng (Senegal), Pape Gueye (Senegal).
Metz : Alexandre Oukidja (Algeria), Kiki Kouyaté (Mali), Dylan Bronn (Tunisia), Sofiane Alakouch (Morocco), Habib Maïga (Ivory Coast), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Farid Boulaya (Algeria).
Monaco : Pelé (Guinea-Bissau).
Montpellier : Ambroise Oyongo (Cameroon).
Nantes : Moses Simon (Nigeria), Jean-Charles Castelletto (Cameroon), Charles Traoré (Mali), Santiago Eneme Bocari (Equatorial Guinea).
Nice : Mario Lemina (Gabon), Youcef Atal (Algeria).
Paris : Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Abdou Diallo (Senegal).
Reims : Ghislain Konan (Ivory Coast), El Bilal Touré (Mali), Moreto Cassama (Guinea-Bissau), Moussa Doumbia (Mali).
Reindeer : Alfred Gomis (Senegal), Nayef Aguerd (Morocco), Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana), Hamari Traoré (Mali).
Saint Etienne : Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia), Denis Bouanga (Gabon), Harold Moukoudi (Cameroon), Yvan Neyou (Cameroon), Saidou Sow (Guinea).
Strasbourg : Habib Diallo (Senegal), Alexander Djiku (Ghana).
Troyes : Rominigue Kouamé (Mali), Mama Baldé (Guinea-Bissau), Issa Kaboré (Burkina Faso), Yoann Touzghar (Tunisia).