Heart of Football

Category: AFCON

  • AFCON 2021 – The good, the bad and the ugly

    AFCON 2021 – The good, the bad and the ugly

    AFCON 2021 was a crazy whirlwind adventure packed full of drama, excitement, tragedy and scandal. We have chosen our key moments that painted the picture of a tournament we fell in love with.

  • Alasdair Howorth Interview: AFCON 2021, On The Whistle, Attitudes to Africa

    Alasdair Howorth Interview: AFCON 2021, On The Whistle, Attitudes to Africa

    While we have dabbled in African football before this AFCON 2021 tournament, we cannot claim to have a deep, storied following of football on the continent, so we wanted to learn more. Who better, then, than Alasdair Howorth: podcaster, associate producer and journalist with On The Whistle, Kenyan-born and raised African football fanatic, and the…

  • Super Eagles flying high at AFCON 2021

    Super Eagles flying high at AFCON 2021

    It’s time for the knockout stages at AFCON 2021 and, after the competition really came into life in the final round of group games, one team look to be head and shoulders above the rest.  Nigeria arrived in Cameroon on the back of a turbulent preparation with previous coach Gernot Rohr sacked just a couple…

  • André Onana: A headache, furosemide and a 12 month drug ban

    André Onana: A headache, furosemide and a 12 month drug ban

    AFCON 2021 boasts a number of high profile names; Mohamed Salah, Riyad Mahrez and Sadio Mané being some of the major headliners. You don’t need to look too far down the list of stars to see the focal point of this article. André Onana is the Cameroon goalkeeper, notably guarding the nets for European powerhouse…

  • Mohamed Kamara: Sierra Leone’s Goalkeeper Extraordinaire

    Mohamed Kamara: Sierra Leone’s Goalkeeper Extraordinaire

    Every now and again in life, a player performs in such a superhuman way that it feels like they are a video game simulation that has been manipulated with a cheat code. Often this level of praise is reserved for the biggest attacking players in football such as Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne, vintage Ronaldinho,…

  • Limbe in Limbo – AFCON refereeing chaos reigns supreme

    Limbe in Limbo – AFCON refereeing chaos reigns supreme

    Mali 1-0 Tunisia isn’t a scoreline that would set the pulses racing at first glance, but this game will go down in infamy – for all the wrong reasons. Spectators love drama, granted, but not the kind where suspicions, reputations and logic swirl into a muddied cesspool of confusion.  Accusations had been lazily thrown around…

  • AFCON 2021 Coverage: Shoddy Sky Sports

    AFCON 2021 Coverage: Shoddy Sky Sports

    At 15:50 today (11 January, 2022), Sky Sports Main Event were showing a show called One2Eleven, featuring Héctor Bellerín. Some people enjoy these shows. Whatever. They’re fine. If this was some run of the mill Tuesday afternoon in January then I could definitely see myself filling up a couple of minutes with this ‘entertainment’. It…

  • AFCON Interview EXCLUSIVE with Uri Levy

    AFCON Interview EXCLUSIVE with Uri Levy

    Arguably one of the most misunderstood and disrespected international tournaments, the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off amidst the all-too predictable swirl of sneers and misconceptions. To help us dissect the meaning and nuances of Africa’s grandest stage we spoke to Uri Levy, founder of Babagol – the legendary football content Mecca – and correspondent…

  • AFCON 2021 Round Table: Winners, memories and controversies

    AFCON 2021 Round Table: Winners, memories and controversies

    The Africa Cup of Nations is upon us again and this year feels like the microscope is prying even closer on this tournament. In the English Premier League, several coaches have voiced their opinions on losing key players to the in-season competition, while the idea of even hosting the competition in January has caused much…