At the time of celebrating the new year, "World Africa" takes stock of these African players who marked the year the continent’s soccer planet.
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Congolese Jackson Muleka at TP Mazembe
At the rate things are going, Jakson Muleka should soon arouse the interest of European recruiters. At just 20 years old, the forward of TP Mazembe puts an end to a particularly promising year. Born in Lubumbashi, trained at the club chaired by Moïse Katumbi, Muleka has accumulated good points. He became champion of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the Ravens, then international in September and has already scored four goals in seven selections.
But it was with TP Mazembe that the young striker stood out most. During the 2018-2019 Champions League, he scored four goals. For the current edition, the Lushois has already reached this score in just four matches. Scorer nine times in the league, his statistics naturally led Christian Nsengi-Biembe, the national coach, to summon him regularly.
Before him, Dieumerci Mbokani, Jonathan Bolingi, Meshak Elia, offensive players who passed through the Mazembe, had joined Europe, often with some success. Who knows what awaits Jackson Muleka?
The Algerian Youcef Belaïli, Espérance Tunis
Even though he joined Saudi Arabia and Al-Ahli in August, the 27-year-old Algerian offensive midfielder left a strong imprint in Africa this year. First with his national selection, crowned with a continental title that has eluded him since 1990: Belaïli played an essential role in the conquest of this CAN, and the confidence that Djamel Belmadi, the Fennecs coach, the team has given him. Algerian victorious, has not been denied since.
Then with Espérance Tunis, a club he joined in July 2018, after a failed experience in Angers, France. In Tunis, where this right-hander had already made a first successful stopover between 2012 and 2014, the Algerian found the pleasure of playing. Goals, assists, a title of national champion and another, even more prestigious, winner of the Champions League. Decisive during the big meetings, Youcef Belaïli nevertheless chose to join, probably for financial reasons, Saudi Arabia and a club certainly prestigious, while European formations were interested in him. But the Algerian still has a few years before him to face the best football on the planet.
Togolese Kodjo Fo Do Labah, RS Berkane
Like Belaïli, the Togolese striker Kodjo Fo Do Labah preferred to pursue his career in a championship – that of the United Arab Emirates, in Al-Aïn – certainly remunerative, but whose level remains despite everything average. It would undoubtedly have been instructive to see how the coming director of the 2018-2019 Moroccan championship with 19 goals to his credit would have behaved in Europe.
With the Moroccan Renaissance sports club of Berkane, the Togolese, who went through the US Bitam (2014-2016), became a regular scorer, and greatly helped his team to achieve a course as flamboyant as it was unexpected in the Confederation Cup African in 2018-2019. RS Berkane had indeed risen in the final, and Labah had six goals. Claude Le Roy and Togo will count heavily on the current top scorer in the selection (12 goals) in the upcoming rounds ahead, namely the qualifications for the African Cup of Nations 2021 and the World Cup 2022.
Ugandan Denis Onyango, Mamelodi Sundows
The Ugandan goalkeeper was already in this top 5 in 2018. It seemed difficult not to renew him this year, he was so consistent in his performance and often decisive. Denis Onyango, who is turning 35, has proven once again that he is one of the best African goals. During the CAN in Egypt with the Cranes, he reached the knockout stages against Senegal (0-1), in a competition in which he often stood out.
With his South African club Mamelodi Sundows, champion in 2019, semi-finalist in the Champions League and off to a good start in the current edition. The native of Kampala, who joined the Rainbow nation in 2006, will probably end his career there. And with a goalkeeper of this level, Uganda, whose progress continues to be confirmed, may have the ambition to aim for a qualification for the 2022 World Cup, a competition in which the country of West Africa has never participated.
The Tunisian Yassine Khenissi, Espérance Tunis
The championship, of which he finished top scorer with ten achievements – and the Tunisian Super Cup, the Champions League, fifth place in the Club World Cup, fourth in the African Cup of Nations (VAN), a qualification for the African Championship of Nations (CHAN) 2020: the Tunisian striker Yassine Khenissi, 27, lived a particularly rich year, whether with his club of hearts, where he was trained, or in Sfax, where he performed three seasons (2012-2015).
Khenissi, a fast and efficient player, could have left Tunisia several times. Al-Ahly, the great Egyptian club, tried to lure him to Cairo a few years ago. Its performances also attracted some rich formations of the Arab-Persian Gulf, a destination particularly appreciated by the Maghreb players, as much for financial reasons as cultural. Linked to Esperance Tunis until June 30, 2021, the scorer could be one of the African players playing on the continent among the most requested during the summer transfer window in summer 2020.
