AFCON started with 24 teams however, there are 8 teams left in the competition aiming to conquer Africa and take the much desired trophy
By Kehinde Okeowo
The 33rd edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) currently going on in Cameroon has reached the Round of 8 after the group stages began with 24 national football teams jostling for honours.
As the race to win the trophy reaches a crescendo, 16 countries have been eliminated, the last being Mali who lost on penalties to less fancied Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday night.
There have been notable moments for giant killers such as The Gambia and Equatorial Guinea, while teams like Ghana and defending champions Algeria suffered humiliating exits at the group stages.
ALSO READ: Egypt advance into last 8 after beating Ivory Coast on penalties
The teams who made it to the last 8 in AFCON are hosts, Cameroon, seven time African champions, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, and debutant Gambia
Behind these squads are men with technical depth which ensured these teams got to the final 8. TheNiche newspaper brings to you the men who made the countries tick.
Egypt: Carlos Queiroz
Carlos Queiroz is a 69-year-old Portuguese football coach who is currently the manager of the Egypt national team at AFCON 2021
At club level, he managed Sporting CP, the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in Major League Soccer, and the Spanish club Real Madrid. He also had two spells as Alex Ferguson’s assistant manager at English club Manchester United
He served as the manager of his native Portugal’s national team on two occasions, and also coached the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Iran, and Colombia, leading South Africa (2002), Portugal (2010), and Iran (2014 and 2018) to the FIFA World Cup.
Senegal: Aliou Cissé
Aliou Cissé is a 45-year-old Senegalese football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Senegal national team.
Having begun his career in France, he later played for English clubs Birmingham City and Portsmouth. Cissé was a defensive midfielder who also, on occasion, played at centre back.
Cissé has been the head coach of Senegal since 2015, having briefly taken charge of them following Amara Traoré’s sacking, in a caretaker role in 2012. He was also the assistant coach of the under-23 side from 2012 to 2013.
Gambia:Tom Saintfiet
Tom Saintfiet is a 48yr-year-old Belgian football coach and former player. He was appointed manager of the Gambian national team in July 2018.
Saintfiet previously managed his country Belgium, Qatar, Germany, Faroe Islands, Finland, Jordan, and the Netherlands. He has also worked in Africa, becoming the National Team head coach of Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Togo, before going to Namibia.
He was the manager of Finnish Premier League club RoPS Rovaniemi. In 2002, Saintfiet coached Faroese team B71 and finished second in the Faroe Islands First Division. He then went on to become coach at Al-Ittihad Sports Club of Qatar (now called Al-Gharafa Sports Club).
In 2004, he coached the Qatar U17 team to third place in the AFC Asian Championships and qualified for the U17 FIFA World Championships. Prior to FIFA World Cup 2010, Saintfiet was one of the candidates to lead the Super Eagles of Nigeria for the World Cup campaign in South Africa
Tunisia: Mondher Kebaier
Mondher Kebaier is a 51-year-old Tunisian football coach who is currently the manager of the Tunisian national football team at AFCON 2021.
Formerly a player at hometown club CA Bizertin, he became the manager of the club in 2000. Following a spell at AS Djerba that began in 1998, he moved to AS Kasserine, before joining Étoile du Sahel for two spells, beginning in 2010.
In 2013, he rejoined Bizertin, winning the 2013 Tunisian Cup. In 2014, Kebaier joined Club Africain, before moving to AS Marsa in the same year, departing in 2016.
In 2016, Kebaier joined Espérance de Tunis as a youth coach, managing the club for a month at the start of 2018. In August 2019, he was appointed manager of Tunisia on a three-year contract, replacing Alain Giresse
Burkina Faso: Kamou Malo
Kamou Malo is a 59-year-old Burkinabé former footballer who is currently manager of Burkina Faso.
During his playing career, Malo played for Ouagadougou-based clubs US Ouagadougou and Étoile Filante.
In 2010, after managing Majestic, Malo was appointed manager of RC Kadiogo. After a three-year period, he joined AS SONABEL. In 2015, he returned to Kadiogo. During his second spell at the club, Malo helped Kadiogo to win two Burkinabé Premier League’s in 2016 and 2017.
In 2018, Malo joined USFA, finishing second in the league. In July 2019, he was appointed manager of Burkina Faso.
Cameroon: Toni Conceição
António Conceição da Silva Oliveira, known as Toni Conceição, is a 61-year-old Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a right back. He is the current manager of the Cameroon national team at AFCON 2021.
His playing career was spent mostly in the Primeira Liga at Braga, as well as Vizela and one appearance for Porto. He earned a sole cap for Portugal in 1988.
In a managerial career of over two decades, Conceição led a variety of Portuguese teams and won league and cup honours in three spells with Cluj in Romania.
Morocco: Vahid Halilhodžić
Vahid Halilhodžić is a 70-year-old Bosnian professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of the Morocco national team.
Regarded as one of the best Yugoslav players in the 1970s and 1980s, he had successful playing spells with Velež Mostar and French clubs Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in the mid-1980s.
During that time, Halilhodžić earned 15 full international caps for Yugoslavia and was part of national squads who won the 1978 European Under-21 Championship and played at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He was the best scorer of the French league in 1983 and 1985.
In the early 1990s, he turned to coaching and, after a short stint as a sporting director at Velež, he moved permanently to France in 1993. Since then, he has managed a number of teams in French-speaking countries and his achievements include winning the 1997 CAF Champions League with Moroccan side Raja Casablanca.
He also lead French side Lille from second level to third place in Ligue 1 in less than three years, winning the 2003–04 Coupe de France with Paris Saint-Germain, and winning the Croatian league in 2011 with Dinamo Zagreb.
Halilhodžić qualified for the 2010 World Cup with Ivory Coast (although he was sacked only months before the final tournament) and the 2014 World Cup with Algeria, with whom he reached the round of 16, Algeria’s best result in history.
He also qualified for the 2018 World Cup with Japan, but again was fired just prior to the tournament. After a short stint with Nantes in 2018, where he helped avoid relegation to Ligue 2.
Editorial Guinea: Juan Micha
Juan Micha Obiang Bicogo is a 45yr-year-old Equatoguinean football manager and former player. A former forward of the senior Equatorial Guinea national team, he is the head coach of the country national under-17 team and the senior team as well.
After finishing his playing career, Micha became a manager in Madrid, Spain. While in CF Fuenlabrada, he knew Esteban Becker, whom he convinced to take the Equatorial Guinea women’s national team in 2012.
In 2015, he became the head coach of the Equatorial Guinea national under-17 team. In July 2020, he presented his candidacy to be named in charge of the senior Equatorial Guinea men’s national team, after Frenchman Sébastien Migné left the position vacant.
On 23 September 2020, he was appointed by the Equatoguinean Football Federation (FEGUIFUT) to coach once again the national under-17 team., however, on 29 October 2020, he was summoned by FEGUIFUT to take charge of two matches against Libya which he won.
After winning the games he officially signed a one-year contract to be the next head coach of Equatorial Guinea and he qualified for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Additional report from Wikipedia