The international reputation of African Football
Now, athletes run, row and struggle to assert the strength and power of their people. The presence of Africans in the transfer market of football players in the European richest clubs has become a very common fact. African Football has listed 647 African players (selected or selectable by an African country) in first league European clubs (in one of the 52 UEFA member countries). Nigerians are the most represented in L1 in Europe with 105 players, followed by Cameroon (84), the Ivorian and Senegalese (58) and Ghanaians (52). The country that hosts the most African footballers is France (with 130 players), followed by Belgium (80), England (37), Turkey (35) and the Netherlands (31) . The two European clubs where we found most African nationals are Beveren in Belgium (with 14 players, 13 Ivorians) tie with RC Lens. Among the 11 European clubs from L1 with most Africans in their team, six are French, three Belgians, one Russian and Turkish.
The Best African Players
Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o Fils
Samuel Eto'o Fils (born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team. Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy. He also holds a Spanish passport to enable him not to count among the "foreign players" in the European Union.Eto'o scored over 100 goals in five seasons with FC Barcelona, and is also the record holder in number of appearances by an African player in La Liga. In 2010, he became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Internazionale.
He is the second player to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams. He is the most decorated African player of all time having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.
At European level: it has gone through several clubs where he had several trophies:
- RCD Mallorca
- Winner of the Spanish Cup (1): 2003
- FC Barcelona
- Winner of the Champions League (2): 2006 and 2009
- Champion of Spain (3): 2005, 2006 and 2009
- Winner of the Spanish Cup (1): 2009
- Winner of the Spanish Supercup (2): 2005 and 2006
- Runner-up World Cup 2006 soccer clubs
- Inter Milan
- Winner of World Cup football club 2010 (1)
- Winner of the Champions League 2010 (1)
- Italian champions (1): 2010
- Winner of the Italian Cup (1): 2010, 2011
- Winner of the Italian Supercup (1): 2010
- Finalist in the European Supercup in 2010
- African Cup of Nations: Two times Champion: in 2000.2002
- Confederations Cup: A time champion: in 2003
- African Cup of Nations: A Finalist: 2008
- 2000 Summer Olympics: Gold Medal: 2000
Cote d'Ivoire: Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébil (born March 11, 1978 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forward and center currently operates in Chelsea, a club of English Premier League. Drogba moved to Chelsea for a record $ 24 million euro has helped the club win its first Premier League title. Drogba has become known as one of the largest in the world in 2006 as a striker. He won the league title with Chelsea and is the new captain of the national team for the first time. The heats of the 2006 World Cup he scored the spirits calling his team for this great competition. He was appointed in 2006 as the African Footballer of the Year.The following season he finished top scorer in the Premier League 2006-07 with 20 goals. With his club Chelsea, has won several trophies that give it an international reputation:
- FA Premiership: 2005, 2006, 2010
- FA Cup: 2007, 2009, 2010
- FA Community Shield: 2005, 2009
- League Cup: 2005, 2007
Ghana: Michael Essien
Kojo Michael Essien (born December 3, 1982 in Accra, Ghana) is a Ghanaian footballer who currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League. He plays the position of defensive midfielder and is a centerpiece of the national football team of Ghana. But he spreads throughout the central axis of the field in Chelsea because of its versatility. Michael Essien is the most expensive African footballer of all time. Before arriving in England he played in the French league where he also showed his immense talent.
The trophies he had to win by then are:
Lyon Ligue 1: Two-time champion: in 2004 and 2005. These are the most recent trophies won playing with Chelsea
- Premier League: 2006, 2010
- FA Cup: 2007, 2009, 2010
- League Cup: 2007
- FA Community Shield: 2009
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that African football is progressing steadily. Inherently, the Africans as the Brazilians are superior to Europeans in football. They just lack proper organization, infrastructure and adequate youth coaching. But there is a growing number of Africans in the major European clubs. “They had and still have a greater desire to succeed because they did not have the comfort of Europeans football structures. Their motivation is higher, "said Robert Nouzaret, the coach of Guinea. An opinion shared by Joseph Blatter, the FIFA president, and Issa Hayatou, the president of CAF, which insists on the upgrade of African football "Much remains to be done, especially in the management side, in the training of managers, in the upgrade of infrastructure and the improvement of player’s conditions in other to curb their exodus to Europe."
But the future of African football is full of surprises, and I think in the coming years, Africa will move from a simple participant in the World Cup to a status of finalist or champion of the world cup.
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