Football : five african players who shine in Europe

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Despite the health crisis, almost all of the football championships of the season 2019-2020 have been able to go to the end of their term. And the competitions resumed this summer. Focus on five african players who have shone since the beginning of the season.

The Egyptian Mohamed Salah, always above. The Egyptian Mohamed Salah continues to fly over the ground at Liverpool, on the 27th of December 2020. NICK POTTS/AFP

On a football field, it is 28 years since an attacker is supposed to be the best of its provisions. This belief seems in any case worth for Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian always does what he knows best : score. Author of 19 goals during the season 2019-2020 in which Liverpool managed to win back a title of champion of England, which escaped him for the past thirty years, Salah has restarted the following year on the bases too high (10 goals in Premier League 13 December). He continues to train with the Senegalese Sadio Mane in a tandem always as effective, and on which rests a part of the success of the Reds, whose game is one of the most spectacular in Europe. Everything suggests that Mohamed Salah, rightly regarded as one of the best attackers in the world, will ever leave the shores of the Mersey. Its market value fluctuates between 130 and 150 million euros, a sum admittedly high, to which we must add his salary (€11 million gross). But this does not prevent the Real Madrid, in particular, consider the recruit.

The people of Burkina faso Lassina Traoré, the revelation The people of Burkina faso Lassina Traoré also surprises by its style to the stage Johan Cruijff in Amsterdam, 13 August 2020. OLAF KRAAK / AFP

He arrived at Ajax Amsterdam on the tip of the foot, in 2018, from Ajax Cape Town, a partner club of the giant Dutch. The young striker from burkina faso, who will turn 20 years old in January, merely a few matches with the first team, continuing his apprenticeship with the under 21 years of age. This season, the cousin of Bertrand Traoré, a striker for Aston Villa also passed in by the Ajax, became a holder of the Lancers. He has registered five goals in the resounding victory of the Ajax-Venlo (13-0), in the month of October. Versatile as it is capable of playing on the sides or in the advanced, powerful and skillful in front of the goal, the Burkinabe will be able to take the time to develop within this club who knows how to trust the young players, and whose only dogma is to practice a football commitment to attacking football.

The Moroccan Youssef In-Nesyri, the rising value The young Moroccan Youssef In-Nesyri dribbles and passes in Seville, on December 19, 2020. CRISTINA QUICLER / AFP

Youssef En-Nesyri (23 years old) is a pure product of training in morocco. Following the Academy Mohammed VI, which produced, among other things, Nayef Aguerd (Rennes) and Hamza Mendyl (Schalke 04), the attacker will place his professional career in Spain. Has Malaga first, which had bought in 2015 and 125 000 euros, and then to Leganès. It is now at FC Seville, one of the best clubs in the country, and that he joined in January, for € 20 million – which is double the cost Leganès – that this attacker large (1.89 m) and powerful continues its climb. After winning the Europa league against Inter Milan (3-2), the Moroccan has enabled the club andalusian to cross the first round of the Champions league 2020-2021, scoring four goals. Involved in a number of goals in the league, he has also demonstrated effectiveness with the selection of morocco, of which he is a senior, scoring three goals in his last four matches.

The Belgo-Congolese Théo Bongonda explodes counters The Belgo-Congolese Théo Bongonda at the stadium of Vigo in 2017 MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP

Born in Charleroi (belgium) to parents from the democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Théo Bongonda (25 years) has repeated several times that he would play for the Leopards, the national team of congolese, if Belgium did not appeal to him. For the moment, the tough competition in the offensive sector of the red Devils has not opened the doors of the selection of his country of birth. However, Bongonda, who approach an average of one goal per match, doing everything to get noticed. Trained at the Academy Jean-Marc Guillou, it was sold in June 2019, to 7 million euros, of Zulte-Waregem to Genk, making him the symbol of the transfer the more expensive between two belgian clubs. Bongonda, after two failed experiments in Spain (Celta Vigo) and in Turkey (Trabzonspor) between 2015 and 2018, is back in Belgium to regain confidence. Even if the player, during the rare interviews he gives, seems not to suspect anything, and especially not from him. All the Flat Country still remembers his famous statement : "you Have a player better than me since I play in Belgium ? "

The Zimbabwean Tino Kadewere, the "warrior," Lyon a great season for the Zimbabwean Tino Kadewere with Olympique lyonnais. Here in Nice, on December 19, 2020. VALERY HACHE / AFP

The players zimbabweans are on the move, rarely in Europe. Tino Kadewere, 24 years old, arrived discreetly at Djurgarden (Sweden) in 2015, in direct line to Harare, he joined the Olympique lyonnais in 2020, after a passage prolific in le Havre in ligue 2. The club rhone, a private European Cup this season, particularly on the effectiveness of the scorer of the Warriors of Zimbabwe. After a tentative opening, he continued with good performances and goals, often decisive, such as those enrolled in Angers (1-0) and, more importantly, at the Parc des princes face au PSG (1-0), 13 December. And professionalism coincides with the right end of a year of Lyon, whose goal is to return to the european scene in the summer of 2021. Kadewere, marked by the death reconciled to his father, in 2014, and his brother, in August, imposes itself today as one of the best attackers in ligue 1.

Alexis Billebault

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