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The Dream Team: Episode Three - The Left-Backs

Over the coming months, Goal and Absa, the Official African Banking Partner of the Premier League, will be selecting The Dream Team—our greatest XI picked from African players who featured in the top-flight.
The criteria is very simple; we’ll be selecting players for each position in our team weekly, with players eligible only if they played during the Premier League era and they represented an African national team.

Already, Edouard Mendy, Lucas Radebe and Kolo Toure have taken their places in our defensive unit, but who will join them at left-back?

The Dream Team

There were various players who can count themselves unlucky to have missed out on our four-player shortlist for a spot in the Dream Team.
Djimi Traore was a Champions League winner with Liverpool, but failed to make the cut, as did Cameroonian trio Salomon Olembe, Timothee Atouba and Pierre Wome.

Perhaps the most unfortunate is Chelsea left-back Abdul Rahman Baba, whose promising Premier League career was eviscerated by injury after just 18 months at Stamford Bridge.

What could he have achieved by now had knee injuries not intervened?

Who missed out?

Currently playing in Qatar, Belhadj’s time in the Premier League was brief but memorable.
He was in his prime in 2010, when he reached the FA Cup final with Portsmouth—Pompey were ultimately defeated by Chelsea—and also represented Algeria at the World Cup.

In that same year, he impressed as Les Fennecs reached the semi-final of the Africa Cup of Nations, and was named in the Goal 50 to celebrate the 50 best players in the world game.

Nadir Belhadj

African PL Dream Team: Centre Midfielders

Assou-Ekotto initially struggled after signing for Tottenham Hotspur, with fans concerned about his unconvincing displays at left-back.
After being sidelined due to injury, he returned stronger than before and went on to spend nine years at Spurs before moving on to Queens Park Rangers.

He really grew into the team under Harry Redknapp, dovetailing superbly with Gareth Bale down the Lillywhites’ left flank, where he caught the eye with his superb delivery.

Disco Benny was certainly a cool customer.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto

The Nigerian made 185 league appearances across stints with Chelsea and Newcastle United, but is best known for his eight-year tenure with the Blues.
While his time with the club came just before they encountered major success under Roman Abramovich and Jose Mourinho, he nonetheless won the FA Cup, Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup and Uefa Super Cup during his time with the Londoners.

An athletic, combative left-back, his finest achievement in football was winning gold at the 1996 Olympics with Nigeria’s Super Eagles.

Celestine Babayaro

Another Nigeria left-back, and Babayaro’s successor in the national side, Taiwo spent a brief spell in the Premier League with Queens Park Rangers.
He helped the Rs beat the drop in 2012, but was not retained by the club at the end of his loan contract.

By this point, in truth, he was not the same player he had been during his peak years at Olympique de Marseille, with whom he was a French champion in 2010.

He also clinched two French Cups and the Trophee des Champions with OM, and between 2008 and 2011, made the Ligue 1 Team of the Year on three occasions.

Taye Taiwo

The Dream Team: Episode Three - The Left-Backs | Goal.com Kenya

Goal and Absa, the Official African Banking Partner of the Premier League, reveal the shortlist for our African top-flight dream team.

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