AFCON 2021: Assessing the African Cup of Nations defensive performances so far – tactical analysis

AFCON kicked-off on Sunday, January 9^th, 2022 in Cameroun with the host country facing Burkina-Faso and winning with difficulty while Cape Verde won against Ethiopia 1-0. The second day witnessed some other good matches with Senegal beating Zimbabwe, Guinea beating Malawi and Morocco winning against Ghana in the toughest match of day two. It should be said that Senegal’s first match performance wasn’t too convincing despite facing one of the most suitable teams for an opening of the competition. Moreover, Gabon won against Comoros to be at the top of Group C at moment and share the top spot with Morocco.

Day three’s games saw the current champion of the tournament struggling to win against Sierra Leone, the team that was successful in stopping Algeria with powerful defending throughout the match. In fact, Sierra Leone were even close to scoring on several occasions. And in a much more complicated match, Nigeria were able to grab three important points against Egypt, their direct opponent in Group D, winning 1-0 with Egypt being in complete confusion almost throughout the game, whether in defence or in attack.

In this tactical analysis and scout report, we will be picking out the best, remarkable and influential defensive performances, tactics and skills so far, while analysing the defensive mistakes and weaknesses of certain teams as well.

Sierra Leone’s defensive show

We will begin with Sierra Leone’s impressive defensive performance against one of the most dangerous attacking teams in Africa. Algeria have got an offensive line composed of Olympique Lyonnais’ Islam Slimani, Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez, Youcef Belaïli, Yacine Brahimi and Sofiane Feghouli. Sierra Leone were still able to stop these players attacking attempts with an organised defensive structure composed of Osman Kakay, Umaru Bangura, former Tottenham and Liverpool’s Steven Caulker and Kevin Wright. But in fact, Sierra Leone’s defensive resistance was maintained thanks to the efforts of the whole squad who usually retreated completely to their own half whenever Algeria were in possession. Furthermore, Mohamed Kamara was the star of the match since he saved all the seven shots attempted by the Algerian players in this match.

What was even more impressive is that his saves were exceptional and showed a lot of character and confidence. One of these saves was made with a diving header as an anticipatory action as soon as he noticed that an opponent could reach the ball before him. Such movements and decisions not only give a boost for the team but can also cause some signs of doubt and lack of concentration for the opponents.