Transcript
Alan Kasuja (0:04)
The Africa cup of Nations. When I think of it, I think of shock results, passion, heart and soul, the beat of the drums, of the sweet rhythms from the continent, and the biggest names in African football. And one of those stars who's delighted us during the last few competitions is none other than Egypt and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah. But this week, there's been quite a storm on social media about whether Salah will win the coveted Ballon d' or and whether AFCON will help him with that, or whether the competition just doesn't matter in global terms. I kid you not, it's something I didn't see coming. It all started when former Liverpool and England player Jamie Carragher seemed to suggest on Sky Sports that Afcon was not considered considered a major tournament and this might harm Salah's chance of winning the Ballon d'. Or. Now, this led to widespread criticism from around the world. And today on the podcast, I'll be getting the thoughts of two African football.
Wael Goma (1:19)
Legends lacking respect for Muhammad Salah and lacking respect for Egypt and the African footballs.
Wilfred Bonny (1:26)
African is a major tournament, which maybe for him is not, but for all Africans, it's majority after the World cup is African.
Alan Kasuja (1:35)
Some strong words there. But before we get to our main discussion, let's hear a bit more about the reaction from other African football stars who've taken to social media. For that and to get some context into what's happened, I spoke with African football journalist Oluwashina Okeleji.
Oluwashina Okeleji (1:58)
Jimmy Carragher, a former Liverpool player, went on Sky Sports and he was talking generally about Mohamed Salah's chances of winning the Ballon d'.
Wilfred Bonny (2:08)
Or.
Oluwashina Okeleji (2:09)
And, you know, he basically said what stands before him and the chance of winning the Ballon d' or is the fact that he represents Egypt. And, you know, he simply said, you know, playing for Egypt doesn't really have his case in terms of being named the Ballon d' or winner. And, you know, in that same interview, we saw Daniel Storage and Mikael Richards, former England international, you know, stepping in and reminding him that, look, he plays for Egypt and the AFCON is a major tournament, like the Euros and of course the Copa America, but not Jimmy Carragher. He disagreed. And he said, really, he doesn't think the afcon is a major tournament. And even if Mohamed Salah wins the AFCON with Egypt, which he hasn't done, it's still not going to help him to win the Ballon d'. Or because other players like Kylian Mbappe and the rest of them are Playing in the Euros and the Copa Americas, two tournaments that are bigger than the Afcon and that's really sparked outrage across the continent. And we've seen former African players, majority of them who are global names and of course continental kings in their own right. We've had four time Afcon winner Ahmed Hassan, who is the most capped African international with 184 appearances for the Pharaohs, described Karaga's remarks as racist and should never have come from a footballer. Assan, the only player who have won the Afcon best player twice, insists his compatriot, that's Mohamed Salah, is on the right path to win this year's Ballon d' or and make Africa proud not to be left alone. We know Eliaji Diouf, he played with Jamie Caraga and his, his problems with Jamie Caraga and of course Gerard, former Liverpool player, is always in the media. So the two time African footballer of the year and former Senegal and Liverpool forward, a large deal believes Carragher needed to talk about Africa, Afcon and the continent's biggest stars to stay Relev. He said he doesn't even have a name like the likes of George we or Kocher. You know, other notable African players who have left their mark in top leagues across the world. And he said that is disrespectful to Afcon, the pride of Africa. And of course we had a former OT Sunderland and Aston Villa defender, Hamed El Mohamadi, who won the Afcon with Egypt in 2008 and 2010, saying that Jamie Carragher would never have an idea what a major tournament are because he never won one.