Thank heavens for the bite of underdogs at 2021 Afcon

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, which enters the quarter final stage this weekend in Cameroon, is finally living up to its billing of not being “a little tournament in Africa” as was recently alluded by a certain Jürgen Klopp.

Off the pitch, the continent’s first major sporting event during the pandemic has had more than enough distractions, including the unfortunate death of eight people and injury of several more in a stampede outside one match venue in Yaoundé.

On the pitch – and thankfully so – the tournament has finally come to life, albeit at the expense of some big names. The thrills and spills in the final group matches and the round of 16 fixtures have more than made up for what was a decidedly sluggish start to the tournament. The first round of group matches, 12 of them in total, were particularly drab and scrappy affairs that produced a measly 12 goals.

Proven goal scorers such as Egyptian talisman Mohamed Salah, his strike partner at Liverpool Sadio Mane (Senegal), Nigeria’s Kelechi Iheanacho, red hot Ajax hitman Sébastien Haller of Ivory Coast and the immensely experienced Ghanaian skipper André Ayew all appeared to have left their scoring boots with their respective clubs abroad.

Then came the final group matches and the round of 16 fixtures. The aftermath has been the unceremonious jettisoning of defending champions Algeria alongside Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, all past champions who had carried the favourites tag into the tournament.

But if the exit of some of the big boys has been shocking, the amazing run of a clutch of minnows, particularly that of the unfancied Gambia, has certainly spiced up the tournament.

Making their first appearance at the continental showpiece, Gambia who are also the lowest ranked team in the tournament – 46th in Africa and 150th globally – have emerged as the surprise package, taking the scalps of regular campaigners Tunisia and Guinea to set up a quarter-final date with hosts Cameroon.

The Indomitable Lions, led by their marauding captain and tournament leading goal scorer, Vincent Aboubakar, will definitely go into Saturday night’s match as the overwhelming favourites, but they can only underestimate the Gambians at their own peril. 

Comoros, who were also making their debut, provided another twist to the tale by dumping out four-time champions Ghana in the group stages. The Indian Ocean islanders, whose appearance at the tournament was at Kenya’s expense, only exited the tourney after a series of injuries conspired with Covid-19 to decimate their squad ahead their round of 16 match against Cameroon.

To their credit, Comoros, who went into that match with a defender for a goalkeeper, held off a supposedly stronger Cameroon, playing with 10 men for more than 80 minutes after their skipper Jimmy Abdou was sent off very early in the game. They would eventually go out with a big bang, thanks to Youssouf M’Changama’s exquisite freekick in the dying minutes of the game.

That goal, alongside Moroccan right fullback Achraf Hakimi’s sumptuous free kick against Malawi and André Ayew’s left foot pile-driver against Gabon, will certainly be contenders for goal of the tournament. But my personal pick for that award is Gabadinho Mhango’s sensational strike from 40 yards out in Malawi’s 2-1 defeat to Morocco.

It’s quite sentimental how the underdogs have had their say in this tournament. That said, this still remains the big boys' playground. Make your choice from Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal.